Shay Mitchell Opens Up To Ashley Graham About Experiencing 'Prepartum Depression'

Shay Mitchell and Ashley Graham have candid discussion about ‘prepartum depression’ on Graham’s podcast

Shay Mitchell recently gave birth to her daughter Atlas Noa and model Ashley Graham is pregnant with her first child, so naturally, Mitchell’s interview on Graham’s podcast Pretty Big Deal encompassed all things baby. The two women got real in-depth on motherhood and pregnancy, with topics ranging from Mitchell’s experience with mommy shaming and dealing depression and loneliness during her pregnancy.

“I want to talk about something that you had said and I think you said the term prepartum depression,” Ashley asked. “I want to talk about this, because I can’t say definitely that I went through it, but I can say that I might have gone through something like it.”

We often hear about postpartum depression, but prepartum depression (also known as antenatal depression, prenatal, or perinatal depression), is just as real and for Mitchell, she felt like her feelings were dismissed during her pregnancy or that she was just being “hormonal.”

Mitchell talked about feeling depressed during her pregnancy in an October 2019 interview with Lifestyle blog Hatch, calling the experience “super isolating” and “extremely lonely,” and she elaborated on those feelings to Graham during the podcast.

“I’d be crying to [my mom] and she’d be like, ‘You’re just emotional, it’s just the hormones.’ And okay cool it might be, but you don’t want to hear that,” Mitchell shared. “Like, yes it is, if it is the hormones I’m still feeling that way. It doesn’t take away from this feeling, and it’s completely isolating.”

Mitchell added that her feelings of loneliness were heightened after experiencing a miscarriage and feeling like she couldn’t share her good news with anyone.

“Because of the experience I’d gone through before with the miscarriage, I didn’t want to tell my closest friends that I was pregnant this time because the thought of having to go back to them after and being like, ‘It didn’t happen this time again,’ was really a painful thought for me. So I just thought I’ll keep it to myself for as long as possible…It was just really lonely,” Mitchell shared.

“It’s a really crazy period that I don’t think people talk about enough,” Shay shared. “I heard so much about postpartum which is also a real thing, but I’d never heard about prepartum depression.”

Graham called her 30+ minute conversation with Mitchell “talk therapy.” The entire interview is on YouTube —and it’s certainly worth a watch.