Brooke Shields: yes, Postpartum Depression is REAL

One in ten women suffers from Postpartum Depression, and one of these, up till not long ago, was Brooke Shields.

I was very skeptical when I first heard she published a book, Down Came the Rain - My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, as I usually am when any celebrity decides to write a book or make a statement* about something out of their usual work field. More often than not, it is just a clever way to ride the wave of fame doing something just to bring more money into their pockets. In most cases, had someone else written or said the same thing, it would have gone unnoticed…

But when I was in Borders about a month ago, I picked this book up and could not put it back down. When we were about to leave, I still wasn’t sure I wanted to buy it, but my husband recognized the expression on my face as I was reading it, and knew it was a book I should have.

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The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

All started when Brooke Shields and her soon to be husband, Chris Henchy, decided to have a child. One of the most natural events in a human’s life did not seem to occur as easily as they thought, and soon they discovered the nature of the problem: because of a cervical surgery performed years before to remove precancerous cells, Shields had become “cervically challenged”, a definition her husband had jokingly given to the problem. This led to different attempts of artificial insemination, then to the choice of IVF, in vitro fertilization, accompanied by a strong hormonal treatment.

After losing her first child very early in the pregnancy, on May 15 2003, after a long labor that led to an emergency c-section, she gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Rowan Francis Henchy, just three weeks after the death of her much beloved father.

But things did not go as well as they hoped: Instead of celebrating new life, I found myself fighting for my own. Shields was losing a great deal of blood and could not be with her daughter for some time (if not for a brief encounter), until the doctors declared her safe to return to her room. Once there, she couldn’t rest because of visitors and curious staff. Then the pain of surgery that was not being treated properly began. And to top it off, she had problems getting started with breastfeeding, something she strongly believed in doing. With each step, Brooke Shields was getting more and more fatigued.

During the five days she stayed at the hospital, not once did Shields feel joyful, but she attributed this to fatigue and to her need to recover physically. On the day of the departure, after organizing everything to make the trip home as easy as possible on her husband and daughter (anxious reporters were waiting to "meet" Rowan), she had her first breakdown and burst out crying. From then on, things seemed to go emotionally downhill for her. Exhaustion gave way to panic and deep sorrow, and to feelings of shame for her state of mind and for her lack of joy for her daughter’s birth.

Visions of jumping through the window started becoming more frequent, as well as other thoughts concerning Rowan, and what scared her most was that they were all very rational.

Though she tried to communicate her mental state to those close to her, as well as to her doctor, the general attitude was to dismiss it by saying it was due to baby blues and need to rest, and many suggested interrupting breastfeeding. Luckily, since that was the only bonding moment she felt for her daughter, she chose to continue.

A friend did mention postpartum depression to her, and how common it was, but she simply thought that nobody else could be feeling what she was feeling and that it did not affect someone like her: it hit only those people you read about in the news.

Anyhow, after hiring a baby nurse, taking Paxil (to then change to Wellbutrin), an antidepressant safe for breastfeeding, and starting therapy, after a few ups and downs, Brooke Shields finally reached the end of this particular journey.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

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When I became pregnant with my first child, I told my husband about postpartum depression, and asked him to please keep an eye on me once the baby was born. Just a few months earlier I had heard on the news of a woman that had put her 8 month-old in the washing machine and had watched her die through the see-through front opening. Then she called the police to turn her self in. Her state of mind was caused by an unmonitored postpartum depression.

Luckily enough, after giving birth to both my children, I had my GOOD DOSE of baby blues but nothing more severe than that. The hardest moments I went through gave me a slight taste of what postpartum depression must be like, so when I started reading this book, it was all very familiar, but to a higher degree.

All of Brooke Shields’ narrations are very honest, and as a mother my self, I recognized all she talked about. What also touched me was the passion with which she describes everything and tries to tell the reader all she has learnt as a new mother with that typical excitement of first time mothers.

Most of all, what I find so important about this book is the final message Shields wants to get through: postpartum depression is not something of which to be ashamed of. It can happen to anyone, and anyone can overcome it. The problem is, very often, being diagnosed.

Unfortunately, in most cases where the depression prevails leading to tragedies, there is a refusal to believe that such a disease exists, both by the woman and by those surrounding her.
Well, not only does it exist, it is physically visible with an MRI, so it can be physically cured for (with an adequate psychological support for the effects it has on the person and those surrounding her).

*Tom Cruise is the perfect example of someone who sometimes speaks of things that he knows nothing about and who creates a great disservice to this field, because so many people who may admire him as an actor, will take for true what he declares off stage: "There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance in a body" and "Psychiatry is a pseudoscience" (and you can imagine how my high school friend who today is a psychiatrist specialized in adult mood disorders defined Mr. Cruise after hearing such statements…).

I agree with what Peg Nichols, a spokeswoman for the Landover-based Children and Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, said "Since when would a celebrity have expertise in medicine? Would you go to your doctor and ask him about movie roles?" (WashingtonPost.com)

But do listen to a mother that also happens to be an actress, and has the courage to speak about what she has gone through with great candor.

This book is finally an example of a celebrity using fame as a means to do a service to the public.