Halle Bailey Is Battling ‘Severe’ Postpartum Depression After 1st Baby: ‘I Don’t Know Who I Am’
Halle Bailey is opening up about her postpartum depression battle three months after giving birth to son Halo.
"I just wanted to speak a little bit about my postpartum journey as a new mom — and now trying to work while still being severely postpartum," Bailey, 24, explained in a Snapchat video from earlier this month, which was shared by Instagram account officialbck. "Honestly, I have severe, severe postpartum."
Bailey, who shares Halo with boyfriend DDG, detailed her adjustment to motherhood, adding, "I don't know if any new moms can relate, but it's to the point where it's really bad. It's hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out."
The actress noted that the transition has been a challenge despite having DDG's support at home.
"[DDG is] the most amazing daddy in the world. He's so present. [I] couldn't ask for a better person to have a baby with," she shared. "Everything about Halo is a miracle. He's perfect, he's beautiful. When I look at him, I cry because of how special he is. The only thing that's been hard for me is feeling normal in my own body."
Bailey said she has felt like "a completely different person" since welcoming her first baby.
"When I look in the mirror, I just feel like I'm in a whole new body. Like, I don't know who I am," she explained, going on to address the "stigma" surrounding postpartum depression. "Before I had a child and I would hear people talk about postpartum, it would kind of just go in one ear and out the other. I didn't realize how serious of a thing it actually was."
Bailey continued: "Now going through it — it almost feels like you're swimming in this ocean that's like the biggest waves you've ever felt. You're trying not to drown and you're trying to come up for air. And you have those moments where you come up for air and they feel like the most beautiful things and it's great. Then you have those moments where you're drowning again. And it has nothing to do with my baby. It has everything to do with me and who I am right now."
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The singer decided to speak out about her experience after being "triggered" by online comments.
"Social media is just not a good thing to be on when you have postpartum. But I was just really triggered today, especially by seeing some of the things that have been said about me and my family. And the one that I love and the ones that I love," she noted. "It's just … it's really, really crazy to me that people would feel the need to say such hurtful things."
While she usually tries to avoid the drama on social media, Bailey recently found it more difficult to disengage.
"Normally I'll see it and it will hurt my feelings but I won't say anything. I'm normally good with not saying anything. I just suck it up, swallow my pride, and just wish that person well. Whoever said something horrible about me and my family, I just wish them well," she explained. "But today I couldn't because it grows something in me to bring awareness to. Even though you may look up to certain people and you think that they're a celebrity, and they appear to have it all together, you never know what somebody is going through. Especially someone who just had a baby, literally."
Bailey and DDG, 26, announced Halo’s birth in January after months of speculation that she was pregnant.
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“Even though we’re a few days into the new year, the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me, was bring me my son,” Bailey wrote via Instagram, sharing a photo of her holding Halo’s hand. “Welcome to the world my halo 🥰👼🏽 ✨the world is desperate to know you 😉🤣♥️.”
A source exclusively told Us Weekly at the time that the couple “had their reasons” for keeping their baby news out of the public eye.
“Halle told friends it was to protect their baby and relationship from scrutiny, but it was all very strange to those around them, especially when she has had such a huge year in movies,” the insider revealed.
