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Post natal depression ‘hell’ for Jessica

Jessica Rowe has spoken about post-natal depression in the hope it will help other women.

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Jessica Rowe has spoken about postnatal depression after the birth of daughter Allegra last year in the hope it will help other women.

A patron of beyondblue’s perinatal initiative, she says she wasn’t coping with motherhood.

“The small silver Tiffany & Co clock that I used to time my breast-feeds became a weapon in my mind. I wondered how easily the clock could crack my baby’s delicate skull,” she writes in the January edition of Vogue.

“My eyes would be drawn to the sharp carving knife in the second drawer in the kitchen. I wondered if such a knife could pierce my little daughter’s soft skin.

“I knew I would never hurt my baby but these bizarre thoughts … kept going around in my mind.”

After six weeks of hell, Rowe confessed to her husband, 60 Minutes reporter Peter Overton, she wasn’t coping.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. He kept asking me if I was going to harm myself or Allegra. I told him of course I wasn’t.

“But I knew I needed someone to pull me out of the anxious, frightening world my head was slipping into.”

After an urgent visit to her obstetrician, Rowe was referred to a psychiatrist who diagnosed postnatal depression.

After overcoming the depression, Rowe is now pregnant with her second child.

Source: The Age

14 Responses

  1. jessica is such an inspiration, she’s pregnant now and should spend time with her family but in 2010/11 i hope 7 has a quality heartwarming inspirational type show that is long lasting for her to host.

    concerned, u r a disgrace.

  2. Jessica is a very brave woman,shes had a rough couple of years.Lets hope all the saddness is behind her now .Hope to see her on Seven News over summer filling in as l find her one of this countries best newsreaders,And l wish her all the best with her second child on the way.

  3. David, I agree Jessica handled herself brilliantly on air during the noisy rumble to remove her from the Today Show.

    Most of the negative feedback to the show was aimed at her – yet she presented her positive energy day-in, day-out.

  5. Jessica and her mum also suffer from bipolar.

    This is a sad story because depression is something other people think, “just get over it and cheer up” but its more than that.

    However I am really concerned that she has gone through hell with her first baby and considered harming her, and yet shes pregnant again??

  6. “concerned”, would you care to join us in the 21st century?

    Clinical depression is so much more than just “the blues” and takes a lot more than being told to “cheer up” to come out the other side. Mental illness is medically recognised, the same as cancer, pneumonia, arthritis, or any other illness or disease that affects any other body part. She’s not seeking publicity for herself, she’s a patron of beyondblue and trying to raise awareness of this debilitating condition.

    Having thoughts of harming or killing your tiny baby when they’re just lying on a rug playing with a rattle is a scary experience, and the only thing that is worse (apart from actually doing it) is to speak up and admit to someone else that these unwanted thoughts have entered your head. I would not wish depression (postnatal or not) like I have experienced on my worst enemy, even you.

    If you care so little about her, why bother posting? And what’s her hair got to do with anything, except to expose your dated attitudes even more.

  7. Good on Jessica for bringing such an important issue into the spotlight. And to “concerned” it’s people like you with their ignorant comments about “getting on with life and being thankful for what she’s got” that make it that much harder for women with postnatal depression to speak up and get help.

  8. @ concerned, are you serious. a woman has just been open about a very personal thing and you accuse her of ‘complaining’. and she doesn’t have the blues she had post natal depression which is very serious.

    and depression aside what has she ever done to deserve those comments. she has always been an extremely giving and kindhearted person and you make her out to be an attention seeker.

    good to see that she overcame and is now ok

  11. Good on Jessica being brave enough to talk so openly about her depression. Not many people in the public eye like their image to be anything but perfect. I have nothing but respect for her now and who cares about her hair??? How petty!

  12. That’s pretty harsh considering what she has gone through (including from Nine management.. I think she got a lot of positive feedback for the way she continued on air while everyone was constantly talking about her at the time).

    Also, pic was obviously taken after the birth, not this month.

  13. Have we not heard enough of Jessica Rowe complaining. No wonder she has the blues as she never stops complaining. Why not get on with life and be thankful for what she has. Let her her hair grow longer it looks very much like a mans. All she wants is sympathy and publicity. She deseerves none what so ever.

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