Halle Bailey Spoke Candidly About Experiencing “Severe” Postpartum Depression

When Halle Bailey welcomed her baby boy Halo with boyfriend DDG last year, she kept the details of his birth private. The Little Mermaid star was also keeping something else private. Her struggle with postpartum depression. Now, however, she has decided to open up about just how difficult it has been for her to feel as though she was “trying not to drown” even as she is “so in love” with her baby boy. A feeling far too many new moms will understand.

Bailey welcomed son Halo near the end of 2023 after keeping her pregnancy and the details of his birth private despite frequent pressure on social media to go public. In fact, feeling “triggered” by social media led Bailey to share a video on Snapchat, per People, where she shared that she had “severe, severe postpartum [depression].”

“And I don’t know if any new moms can relate, but it’s to the point where it’s really bad, and it’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out,” she said in the video.

The proud mom went on to say that her baby boy is a “miracle,” and DDG has been a very supportive dad. “The only thing that’s been hard for me is feeling normal in my own body,” The Color Purple star explained, adding, “I feel like a completely different person. When I look in the mirror, I just feel like I’m in a whole new body. Like, I don’t know who I am.”

“Before I had a child and I would hear people talk about postpartum, it would kind of just go in one ear and out the other. I didn’t realize how serious of a thing it actually was,” Bailey shared. “Now going through it, it almost feels like you’re swimming in this ocean that’s like the biggest waves you’ve ever felt and you’re trying not to drown. And you’re trying to come up for air.”

Bailey really wanted to make certain that people knew her postpartum depression had “nothing to do with my baby,” and this is such a common reaction for moms experiencing PPD. The guilt that moms feel for struggling with PPD as though they should just be happy all the time. It’s a lot.

And for Bailey, her son Halo is everything. “My baby Halo makes me so happy — the best thing ever,” she recently told Forbes. “It’s just brought a whole new, just world of purpose and journey. It makes me want to be better every single day for him, you know?”

Postpartum depression really does a number on new moms. And Halle Bailey was incredibly generous for sharing so honestly about how it has affected her and letting other new moms know they’re not alone.

If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or anxiety during pregnancy, or in the postpartum period, contact the Postpartum Health Alliance warmline at (888) 724-7240, or Postpartum Support International at (800) 944-4773. If you are thinking of harming yourself or your baby, get help right away by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or dialing 911. For more resources, you can visit Postpartum Support International.