Gwyneth Paltrow

The actress has six-year-old daughter Apple and son Moses, four, with her husband Chris Martin. She loves being a mother, and couldn’t believe how complete she felt after Apple’s arrival.

However, her experience after Moses’ birth was very different. Gwyneth has spoken of her struggle with postpartum depression before, and has now admitted it was so bad she was convinced she was a dreadful parent.

“I felt like a zombie. I couldn't access my heart. I couldn't access my emotions. I couldn't connect,” she explained. “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.”

It was Chris who first convinced Gwyneth something wasn’t right with her. He broached the subject and she initially dismissed him, but then began to realise he had a point.

She was unable to see the problem earlier as she didn’t realise her symptoms were of depression, which is one of the reasons Gwyneth has decided to be so open about her problem.

“Chris identified it, and that sort of burst the bubble,” she told Good Housekeeping magazine. “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. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure.”

Gwyneth says Chris’ support helped her through the tough time. The pair are very close, with the Coldplay frontman supportive of everything his wife does.

She admits they do have to work on certain parts of the relationship, with Chris not as open about his feelings as she would like.

“I definitely have to coax things out of him when we talk. You know, he's British, so it's a different lexicon totally,” she said. “But you have to communicate. Otherwise there's no relationship.”

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