The image depicts a happy, beautiful, energetic, engaged new mother of 2 young children. Her smile and playful posture give the impression of ease and contentment. All the while, however, Gwyneth is beginning her transition into what she would later call the "darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters" of her life. How can this be? That is not what the woman in the picture looks like she is experiencing! The woman in the picture makes me feel happy and proud of her as a successful busy actress who has all the time in the world to run and play in a beautiful park with her two new children in fabulous skinny jeans!
Well, this image proves that in the world of celebrity we are shown what is not really there. It is not a shock to me to read that Gwyneth suffered from what she now admits to being postpartum depression. After all, each year approximately 950,000 women (as of 2007) suffer from postpartum depression. What is really shocking to me is the "You will always look and feel like this after having a baby" feeling images like this propogate. Well, what if you DON'T feel or look like that after having a baby? Does that mean you are less? Does it mean that you are a horrible person? Does it mean that you are a horrible mother?
NO!
It means that you are suffering from a very real and sometimes, crippling experience that is not just "in your head". It means that you need help and love and support and even counseling. It means that just because you are not frolicking with sunshine in your hair we shouldn't chastise you or make you feel like you are just a wimp or weak or any of the other horrible remarks women have been told by "loved ones" who feel that they should look and act and "bounce back" like the celeb on the cover of the latest magazine.
With the amount of women who suffer each year with postpartum depression it would irresponsible of us not to take notice and learn as much as possible about the warning signs and how to help. This means that if you are a doula, childbirth educator, lactation consultant, baby nurse, or OB you SHOULD know that not all that glitters feels like the greatest most happiest mother in the world. It means that we should work together to provide safe places for women to call or visit where they KNOW they will be loved and supported and where they can be connected to people who care and are knowledgeable.
I am happy that Gwyneth has since come out from the "darkness" and is enjoying working and being with her family. I am ecstatic that her husband played such a vital role in the recognition of her pain and in helping her get through it...(I always knew he was amazing :) I pray for her and for her family and I thank her for coming forward so that maybe other women can receive the help they need.
In closing, let me be clear that I am not saying that we should post images of sad or depressed mothers out there...that would be a ridiculous extreme. But instead, continue to shed light and bring to the forefront Postpartum Mood Disorders and consider how these "I'm happy all the time" images negatively affect those who just don't or can't feel that way.
Mother's Care loves and supports you :)
hugs, Lisi Grullon
Oh, and here's a great local resource: http://www.floridapsychotherapy.com/
P.S. Here is the article....in case you wanted to read :)
by Erin Carlson for OMG! from Yahoo
Gwyneth Paltrow seems like a sunny lady, but the sun doesn't always shine on casa Paltrow-Martin. The "Country Strong" star says her husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, first recognized her postpartum depression following the birth of their son, Moses.
"About four months into it, Chris came to me and said, 'Something's wrong, something's wrong,'" she reveals in an interview in the February issue ofGood Housekeeping magazine (via People.com.) "But Chris identifed it, and that sort of burst the bubble."
Paltrow's battle with postpartum depression is nothing new; in a recent entry on herlifestyle newsletter GOOP, the 38-year-old actress described the five months after Moses was born in April 2006 as one of the "darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters" of her life. Fellow actress/mother Bryce Dallas Howard also contributed her bleak experience to the newsletter. (Other celebs who've coped with postpartum includeBrooke Shields and Courteney Cox.)
Continuing the discussion in Good Housekeeping, Paltrow says: "I felt like a zombie. I couldn't access my heart. I couldn't access my emotions. I couldn't connect."
Paltrow -- who says she was on "cloud nine" following the 2004 birth of daughter Apple -- was in denial about how serious it all was.
"I thought postpartum depression meant you were sobbing everyday and incapable of looking after a child," she says. "But there are different shades of it and depths of it, which is why I think it's so important for women to talk about it. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure."
But British rocker Martin -- who taught her how to play the guitar for her role as a Faith Hill-esque superstar in "Country Song" -- was there to help her through it. "I can depend on him," she says. "He makes me laugh. He's really appreciate of me. You know, he makes me feel special."
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