Brooke Shields reveals she nearly drove 'into wall' to kill herself after suffering from 'terrifying' postnatal depression
Brooke Shields shockingly revealed that after becoming a mother and going through a horrible case of postpartum depression, she thought about driving into a wall and killing herself. The 57-year-old American model and actress first married tennis star, Andre Agassi, who she later divorced. She then married television writer, Chris Henchy, with whom she has two daughters, Rowan, 19, and Grier, 16.
However, the 'Pretty Baby' star claimed that she was so despondent after giving birth to Rowan that she felt like a "stranger" to her for a considerable amount of time.
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Brooke Shields reveals why she once broke up with Chris Henchy before marrying him
What did Brooke Shields reveal?
"I was exhausted," Brooke Shields said on the 'WTF show with Marc Maron'. "I had gone through IVF seven times." She added, "I lost so much blood when I gave birth to her and herniated my uterus. It was just everything that could have gone wrong. I thought I was going to die. They were going to give me a hysterectomy."
'You just feel so helpless and scared'
The actress went on and said that there had been a lot of stress. When she returned home, she was unsure of what to do with the baby. "There was so much trauma. And then I get home and I don't know what to do with a baby," said the actress. "I'm depleted and I'm completely biochemically imbalanced, and no-one knows it, and they just say 'stop breastfeeding or stop doing this.'" She continued, "I couldn't understand my mind. It's the worst. It's taking everything that made me who I am and absolutely ripping my legs out from under me. You just feel so helpless and scared."
'I thought I was going to drive my car into the wall'
The 57-year-old, who was diagnosed with postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Rowan, now 19 years old, in 2003, made a "terrifying" phone call to her doctor while driving. "I thought I was going to drive my car into the wall on the 405," she recounted. "You see it [happening]. It has pictures," she went on. "They rush, if you close your eyes, into your brain."
'You are experiencing post-partum (post-natal) depression'
Brooke went on to say that the doctor had called her back saying, "I apologize for violating the patient-doctor privilege. I talked to my wife, who is a doula (offering emotional support through pregnancy and after birth), about it, and she thinks that you are experiencing post-partum (post-natal) depression and would you take medication?" The actress clearly said "No" and continued, "Everybody said 'please, please, please.' I finally said ok to get everybody off my back." She said, "I started feeling better and wanting to be around her."
'I sort of beat myself up'
According to Brooke, her spouse filled the void left by her depression in their parenting, but that also made her feel down. She stated, "Her father came in, and he just went into mode. He had never held a baby before and now he was doing it. And they have a very strong relationship. I sort of beat myself up about that for a long time. I thought 'you made them bond and you did this to yourself.'"
Talking about her documentary, 'Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields', she previously said, that before viewing the documentary, Rowan and Grier "did not know about" some of its darker aspects, as per People. Shields' sexualization as a young actress is the focus of the show, which also contains open details about her 20s rape by a Hollywood executive, her loss of virginity to Dean Cain, and other experiences.