You can truly never know what is going on behind closed doors in another person’s life, and Una Foden has proven this while revealing her battle with postnatal depression.

 

The 35-year-old - formerly of girlband The Saturdays - opened up about her experience for a campaign with children’s charity Tommy’s, who are currently raising awareness of the condition.

 

“When I had Tadgh, I had a touch of postnatal depression, something I didn’t experience when Aoife was born,” she said, referring to her two-year-old son and five-year-old daughter with husband Ben Foden.

 

“It was a lonely time, and I wasn’t helping the situation. I was moving to a new house, Ben had suffered an injury at work, and I also jumped back into work quicker than I did when I had Aoife.

 

 

“I thought I would be fine and could do it all, because I’d had a child before.”

 

Una, who did a stint on The Voice of Ireland, admitted that she was putting so much pressure on herself to ‘be a good mum’, her mental health began to suffer.

 

Thankfully, the devoted mum-of-two had the courage to seek help, and a trip to her doctor set her on the path to healing.

 

“Finally, I went to my GP who diagnosed postnatal depression. I was offered medication, but having tried both, preferred the cognitive therapy route,” she admitted.

 

 

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“Talking – whether to my GP or to friends and other new mums – was so helpful for me.”

 

By sharing her experience with the world, Una is hoping that she can help to break the ‘taboo’ surrounding postnatal depression.

 

Una is just the latest celebrity to speak out on this very important topic. Just last week, former Emmerdale star Suzanne Shaw spoke candidly about her own experience with postnatal depression.

 

Suzanne admitted that ‘things got dark’ following the birth of second child Rafferty; so bad, in fact, that she couldn’t even get out of bed on some mornings.

 

 

#mumandson

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“When I had [older child] Corey, I was 23 and a single mum; so after Raffi was born, I really thought I’d avoid it, because I had a stable family setup,” she told Closer.

 

“I was trying to do everything in my power to avoid getting it again: breastfeeding, exercising, eating healthily.”

 

A visit to the doctor changed everything for Suzanne, however, and she admitted that she ‘couldn’t believe she had waited a few months to get help’.

 

Fair play to these lovely mums for sharing their experiences – we are sure they will help a struggling mum out there, somewhere.

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