Storm Purvis can’t stop grinning as she watches her two-year-old daughter Daisy sing and dance for her baby sister, five-month-old Indigo. It’s a magical moment the Crowd Goes Wild presenter and former Silver Fern, 32, didn’t even realise she wanted, following a long career to reach netball’s highest levels and a successful second act as a Sky Sport broadcaster.
But finding joy in motherhood has been its own battle after the sports star suffered crippling post-partum depression (PPD) following the births of both her daughters. Bravely sharing her journey for the first time, Storm tells Woman’s Day that after Daisy’s birth, she begged her own mother Fiona to intervene and take her baby away.
“I remember crying to Mum to take Daisy for eight weeks and put me in a centre,” says Storm.
“It was really bad. I don’t know if I needed to do that, but my brain was telling me to get away.”
As a first-time mum who’d never experienced any kind of depression or anxiety before, it took Storm a while to realise she had more than just the baby blues as she spiralled “lower and lower”. After seeing a doctor, who realised she was suffering from PPD, Storm was given antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication, and things began to improve.
“As soon as it was labelled, I felt I could manage it better and I got through the other side,” she shares.
But when it came time to have Indigo, Storm thought she’d be able to manage any symptoms.
“I thought because I’d been through it and I knew what to expect, I’d be fine,” she explains.
“And my birth experience was great, but I wasn’t fine. In fact, I spiralled quicker and more intensely than I did before. It was another very rough start.”
With panic attacks – which she dubbed “the sunrise scaries” – becoming regular, she’d often wake shaking and unable to function.
“I’d heard of sundown scaries, but for me, it was in the morning. I’d wake up and immediately have this sense of dread, thinking, ‘I can’t do this. “I couldn’t eat for the first four weeks of her life – everything tasted like chalk and sand,” she confides.
“I lost so much weight. People would be like, ‘You look fantastic!’ and I was thinking, ‘Yeah, sure, depression is great for weight loss!’”
At her lowest, Storm remembers questioning why she was feeling so sad.
“Because I’d never gone through any mental health challenges, I had my own stigmas to work through. I was like, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ I’ve been a professional athlete, I’ve been through adversity, I’m normally so resilient. Why can’t I do what every other mum out there is doing?’ It ate me up.”
The situation was also incredibly hard on her husband Dan Hilton-Jones as he watched his wife’s battle.
Storm says, “He was scared and worried, but he never once let it show. He always put me and the girls first, and did everything possible to support me. He’s amazing.”
After a visit to the doctor with her mum Fiona, Storm was prescribed medication, including more antidepressants, which she says worked so well, she’s still taking them today.
“Going to the doctor was very validating,” she tells.
“He told me that I couldn’t control this – that it was hormones, not me. It helped a lot.”
Despite being in the grips of PPD, Storm returned to work eight weeks after having Indigo to front Sky’s coverage of the ASB Classic. It was a tough call, complicated by professional and financial anxiety.
“Indigo wasn’t a planned baby – she was a sweet surprise,” explains Storm.
“We had literally just moved into our dream house and doubled our mortgage. It was also around the time of lots of change at work. I got nervous about taking time away, as so many women do in this industry. It’s a very real thing. “I went back for those reasons, but mainly financial. I do have such a supportive workplace, who made it all suit me, and an incredible village. Honestly, I felt guilty that I felt like going to work was an escape from home. I had a lot of wild, conflicting thoughts!”
Thankfully, five months on from giving birth to gorgeous Indigo, the outlook for Storm is far sunnier.
“Having a two-year-old and a five-month-old is still hard, but I’m managing these moments better,” she says.
“I feel like I’m through the fog, I’m feeling like myself and I’m enjoying motherhood again! Seeing Daisy and Indigo interact together is just the best thing. “Dan’s been incredible throughout all of this. He’s a wonderful support and a fabulous girl dad. And his mum Sharon has also been amazing – the village is key!”
Indigo – or “GoGo” as Daisy insists she’s called – is a true bundle of joy. Storm and Dan, 31, settled on her name using Kinder, the Tinder-inspired app where parents swipe until they “match” on a name they both love.
Meanwhile, Daisy takes her big-sister role very seriously.
Storm tells, “The catchphrase of our house right now is, ‘Gentle hands!’ Daisy might love Indigo a little too much – there’s a lot of her trying to shove the bottle into Indigo’s face and me rushing over, yelling, ‘No!’ “But their relationship is already so lovely and I’m happy they have each other. I have a sister and I talk to her every day, and I love they’ll get that special relationship too.”
While Storm is excited about the landmark 20th season of The Crowd Goes Wild returning to Sky Sport 1 at the end of this month, for now, having ridden out the tough times, she’s focused on enjoying more magical motherhood moments.
“I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel when I was in it, honestly,” she says.
“It’s why I wanted to share what I went through because it’s so, so hard and it’s not talked about enough. We need to change that.”
Watching her daughters together, Storm smiles, “I didn’t know this was what I wanted. I mean, I always knew I wanted kids one day, but I was so busy trying to be a Silver Fern, then have an epic career. “But now, I sit down and I’m like, ‘My gosh, that one day is now!’ I look at these two beautiful girls we have, how much they love each other, and that they’re happy and healthy. I have moments where I pinch myself that this is my life now and I’m so, so lucky.”
