SHE’S described motherhood as a “wild, crazy ride”, and now Leona Lewis has bravely revealed that she spoke to a counsellor to help manage her feelings after the birth of her daughter.
After battling debilitating sickness throughout her pregnancy, the X Factor champion found herself consumed with worry in the months that followed baby Carmel’s arrival last July.
Discussing her postpartum anxiety, Leona told Fabulous: “It was very, very hard. I’d get myself really worked up about whether she was eating enough, or if she was OK.
“I was so drained, so tired and then I’d have these anxious thoughts that kept me up, so I wasn’t ever able to rest. When she was napping, I’d be watching her instead of catching up on sleep. And the lack of sleep made things even worse.
“I’d been so sick throughout the whole pregnancy, I could hardly get out of bed. That went on literally up until she was born, so it [had already been] a lot, both physically and emotionally.”
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The pressure grew so overwhelming that Leona spoke to a therapist.
“I spoke to a counsellor, which was a big help to me,” she says. “It’s so important if you can speak to someone about it. I spoke to my friends and mums about how I was feeling, and just knowing I wasn’t alone made such a difference.
“I worked on trying to carve out little moments when I could take a breath and have a break and rely on other people to help. But it took two or three months for it to simmer down and for me to start feeling like myself again. Motherhood has been such a wild, crazy ride.”
Leona’s personal experience is why she’s helping launch our new campaign, Baby, Bank On Us in partnership with Save The Children and Little Village in support of UK baby banks.
“I was so lucky that I had a lot of support around me. And it made me think about the women who don’t have that, or don’t have access to it,” she says.
"I just want to do anything I can to help – since becoming a mum, my heart opens up to every mum I meet. I’m like: ‘Oh, I love you!’
“When Fabulous got in touch about Baby, Bank On Us, it felt perfect. This is exactly what I want to do. I’m fortunate enough to afford the necessities, but there are so many women and children who are not in the same position.”
Baby, Bank On Us, a community-focused initiative, is calling on the public to volunteer their time and donate second-hand children’s items to their nearest baby bank.
It also aims to raise awareness of the vital work baby banks do and the benefits they bring to families, especially during a cost of living crisis, which is impacting households across the country.
