'Many Women Experience It': Bachelor Nation's Jade Roper Tolbert Is Tired Of Keeping Quiet About Postpartum Depression
Like countless other women, Jade Roper Tolbert wants to end the stigma surrounding postpartum depression after experiencing the symptoms herself.
"It's OK not to be OK. We need to normalize the feelings that we feel postpartum," she stated. "What you're feeling isn't something that's too big that you can't get help for it."
The reality star pointed out that while there's endless guidance for women during pregnancy, no one discusses the possibility of struggling after the baby's born — a time period she referred to as the "fourth trimester."
"Everyone worries about prenatal care and you go to all these appointments, then you have the baby and you get one check-up at six weeks and you're let go," she told PEOPLE. "You're into the world on your own now. There's so much you go through. It's so transformational."
The mom-of-three revealed she underwent both physical and emotional changes after she and husband Tanner Tolbert welcomed their first child, Emmy, 3. Things became even worse for the brunette babe after giving birth to son Brooks, 18 months.
"I didn't know who to reach out to. I kept thinking I was alone in it and I was just going to get better on my own," she recalled of the ordeal.
Now that she's been through it herself, she wants to help others cope with the stressful situation.
"Talk to somebody, anybody," she suggested. "Yes, you're going through it yourself, but many women experience it."
The Bachelor in Paradise alum has opened up to her fans about the obstacles she was facing via Instagram, posting an emotional note.
"The intrusive thoughts and negative self talk I’ve been able to keep at bay are wearing me down this week," she confessed, adding that she's experiencing sleep deprivation, vertigo and breastfeeding issues. "I can't function enough to be a good mom. I know I will survive this as I have before, but I feel so far down the rabbit hole today."
Her candid words resonated with countless women, who thanked her for being so upfront and honest.
"It was liberating to me," she said of publicizing her troubles. "I also want it to be liberating for other moms."
"I think we're expected, or we put this pressure on ourselves, to be supermoms. It's not like that," she added. "We're fumbling through it and learning as we go, just as our babies are, and we need to recognize that we are human. We can't do it all, and there is help out there."
