- Ashley Tisdale says she had very different postpartum experiences following her two births.
- The “High School Musical” star felt “robbed” of her first experience as a mother due to postpartum depression.
- But welcoming her second child to the family was a “very easy transition,” she said.
Ashley Tisdale, 39, is excited that she got to be a mom again.
The “High School Musical” star told Us Weekly that welcoming her second child was a chance to experience motherhood again since she felt “robbed” of her first experience due to postpartum depression, or PPD.
“To be able to have this experience again and to have it in such a great way and be so present, it makes me cherish every single moment,” Tisdale said.
Tisdale and her husband, Christopher French, married in 2014. They welcomed their first daughter, Jupiter, in 2021 and their second daughter, Emerson, in September.
So far, it’s been a “really easy transition” for the family, she said.
When she first became a mom, Tisdale said she was nervous and didn’t know what to expect.
“With the second, you just feel so much more confident,” she said.
She also credits her husband for his support.
“I feel like we balance each other out,” Tisdale said. “There are times where Chris is really the fun parent and I might be a little bit more strict. And then, there’s times where he’s a little bit more strict with scheduling, and I’m a really fun parent.”
In a September post on her website, written about two weeks after she gave birth to her second child, Tisdale reflected on how different her two postpartum experiences were.
When she had her first child, “something just wasn’t clicking for me as a new mom,” Tisdale wrote.
“I had expected to feel certain things as a new mother, but I didn’t. Instead, I spent a lot of time feeling sad and anxious—and guilty about feeling that way,” she continued. “It took me a while to realize that I was going through postpartum depression. Fortunately, I came out of it in time, but I remember feeling robbed of the joy I’d been hoping to experience.”
But thankfully, things were different with her second child.
“When I first looked into Emerson’s eyes, I immediately had the connection I’d dreamed of. This postpartum period has been so much easier because I feel like my normal self, and I feel 100% connected with my daughters,” she wrote.
Tisdale isn’t the only celebrity mom who has been open about experiencing postpartum depression.
In a March 2017 essay for Glamour, Chrissy Teigen shared that taking antidepressants helped her with postpartum depression. She was diagnosed with the condition after giving birth to her daughter, Luna, in April 2016.
During a 2020 episode of Jameela Jamil’s “I Weigh” podcast, Reese Witherspoon shared that she experienced postpartum depression after the birth of two of her three children.
Based on data from the CDC, one in eight women in the US report experiencing symptoms of depression after giving birth.
Some symptoms of postpartum depression include severe mood swings, crying too much, and having difficulties bonding with the newborn baby.
A representative for Tisdale did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
