Award-winning singer Adele has opened up about her experience with postpartum depression, following the birth of her son.
“I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me,” revealed the 28-year-old singer to Vanity Fair
“My knowledge of postpartum — or post-natal, as we call it in England — is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job,” she says. “But I was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life.”
The mother of one who shares four-year-old Angelo James with her partner of five years Simon Konecki, 42, admitted she didn’t initially seek help for her PPD, or use antidepressants.
“My boyfriend said I should talk to other women who were pregnant, and I said, ‘F— that, I ain’t hanging around with a f—in’ bunch of mothers,’ ” she says.
After realising her close friends were experiencing the same issues that she was, Adele learned that communicating with them would be the key to coping.
“Without realizing it, I was gravitating towards pregnant women and other women with children, because I found they’re a bit more patient.”
“My friends who didn’t have kids would get annoyed with me, whereas I knew I could just sit there and chat absolute mush with my friends who had children, and we wouldn’t judge each other,” she says. “One day I said to a friend, ‘I f—in’ hate this,’ and she just burst into tears and said, ‘I f—in’ hate this, too.’ And it was done. It lifted.”
