Gwyneth Paltrow Said She ‘Felt Like a Zombie’ After Having Her Second Child
Gwyneth Paltrow, actor, successful entrepreneur, and mother of two, once stated that she “felt like a zombie” after the birth of her son, Moses, in 2006. She went on to say, “I couldn’t access my heart. I couldn’t access my emotions. I couldn’t connect.”
What made matters worse was that she didn’t feel bad after the birth of her daughter, Apple, in 2004. This was according to an article in Good Housekeeping. Paltrow went on to describe the difference between how she felt after the births of her two children.
“It was terrible, it was the exact opposite of what had happened when Apple was born. With her, I was on cloud nine. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t the same. I just thought it meant I was a terrible mother and a terrible person.”
Paltrow’s husband noticed something was wrong
It was Paltrow’s husband at the time, Chris Martin, who finally suggested something wasn’t right.
“About four months into it, Chris came to me and said, ‘Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong,'” she recalls. “I kept saying, ‘No, no, I’m fine.’ But Chris identified it, and that sort of burst the bubble.”
At this point, Paltrow realized she was experiencing postpartum depression. This was a huge shock to her, as she went on to explain in the interview. “The hardest part for me was acknowledging the problem,” she says.
“I thought postpartum depression meant you were sobbing every single day and incapable of looking after a child. But there are different shades of it and depths of it, which is why I think it’s so important for women to talk about. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure.”
How Paltrow overcame her postpartum depression
Once Paltrow made the connection that her mood issues were postpartum depression, she was able to take action. It wasn’t easy for the mother of two, but she got through it. Her strategy was to turn to holistic practices to begin feeling better.
According to Self, Paltrow confessed that after her diagnosis, her doctor prescribed anti-depressants. However, she decided to try other avenues of treatment first. She went on to say that while she believed medication was a life-saver for some, it wasn’t her first choice as far as pursuing recovery from her postpartum depression.
“I thought, well, what if I went to therapy and I started exercising again, and I stopped drinking alcohol, and I just gave myself, like, a period of regeneration, and I slept more? And it really broke me out of it.”
Improving her self-care habits seemed to do the trick for the Goop founder.
Paltrow’s blended family
Paltrow is mother to daughter Apple Martin, now 18, and son Moses, now 16. Father Chris Martin and Paltrow divorced in 2013 but are still a tight-knit family unit, often spending holidays together. Early on in their split, Paltrow made it clear the two were still close, and the break-up was amicable. In fact, she called it a “conscious uncoupling,” and despite the fact that they’ve both moved on, they still spend a great deal of time together.
Paltrow even invited Martin to tag along on her honeymoon in the Maldives, according to CNN. Paltrow is now married to writer and producer Brad Falchuk. According to People, the couple knew early on they didn’t want any more kids.
“This is his second marriage … Neither of us wants more kids.” Falchuk has a daughter, Isabella, and a son, Brody, from his previous marriage.
As for ex-husband Chris Martin, he’s been dating actor Dakota Johnson since 2018. Despite some reports to the contrary, the two seem to be doing well together, according to Us.
