Actress Denise Welch shares struggles with postnatal depression

Loose Women presenter Denise Welch has opened up about her struggles with postnatal depression and how she did not receive adequate medical support at the time.

Welch shared a photo of herself to her 362K followers on Instagram while she was pregnant with her son Matthew (33).

In the caption she wrote, “It’s maternal mental health week. This is 2 days before Matty was born, April 1989. Happy, excited, nervous. I had a brilliant pregnancy and wasn’t even bothered when he was 9 days late! Long labour but he was a healthy 8lbs and we were thrilled with our beautiful boy”.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Denise Welch (@denise_welch)

“I wasn’t anxious. I loved the first few days even though he cried a lot. A week later out of nowhere, during a walk with my mum, my life changed forever. After my first ever panic attack a feeling of unreality came over me and within an hour I was in a thick, black, terrifying depression”.

“I didn’t eat for weeks. I was almost catatonic. My family took leave of work and stayed with me night and day. Post natal depression robbed me of any joy for months. I felt nothing”.

She continued, “The GP was terrible and knew nothing. I tried for 20 yrs to get someone to listen to me that I felt my illness was hormonal. No one really helped me”.

“Years of good days and bad days followed. Several ‘nervous breakdowns’ as we called them and every anti depressants known to man, which undoubtedly did help for sure”.

“About 13 yrs ago a gynaecologist in London was recommended to me. Professor John Studd. He found me to be severely deficient in oestrogen. My life changed that day. I still live with the ‘unwelcome visitor’ but he far less visible these days”.

The 63-year-old closed her post by saying, “We have HRT and it’s our right to be given it. Reach out and shout from the roof tops if you have to. Accept any help offered. Don’t suffer in silence. With the right help life with your baby will be wonderful”.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Denise Welch (@denise_welch)

Fans of the former Waterloo Road star went to the comments to share their support for Denise as she spoke about such a personal experience. One fan wrote, “You are amazing, thank you for sharing this. Must have been awful xx”.

Another followers penned, “You’re an incredible lady, I love following you, you’re an inspiration. Sending lots of love and thank you for sharing”. 

A third added, “Thank you for sharing your experience. How awful it’s such a battle”.

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