Lorraine Kelly’s daughter has opened up about experiencing postpartum anxiety as she brought her baby girl on to her mother’s STV chat show for the first time.
On Tuesday’s episode of Lorraine, the Scottish presenter welcomed her daughter Rosie Smith and her granddaughter Billie to the show 30 years after she brought her daughter on to GMTV.
Rosie, who gave birth in August, described Billie as a “dream baby” but said she had struggled with anxiety after giving birth.
The new mother and podcaster told the show’s resident doctor Dr Hilary Jones: “Now I’m OK. I think postpartum depression gets spoken about a lot but I didn’t really know about postpartum anxiety.
“I think a lot of people say ‘Oh, your hormones are mental, and you’ll have all these feelings’.
“I was very prepared to feel like, ‘Oh, I’m not good enough. I’m not doing well enough’. I wasn’t prepared for not feeling safe and I thought that’s not normal.”
Jones reassured the 30-year-old that these anxious feelings were “normal” and that it would “pass” with time.
He added: “Of course, you’ve got a new responsibility, but also you’re tired. You’ve got a bit of sleep deprivation and interrupted sleep.
“Also, your hormones are taking a big drop, and all of that has a huge influence physiologically on your body and on your mind.
“So you’re going to worry about everything. Probably worry about (Rosie’s partner) Steve. You worry about the baby.”
Smith said she also found breastfeeding “very hard” work but that Billie had been feeding well.
Alongside her fiance Steve White being supportive, Smith noted the support she had received from her mother Kelly and her own grandmother, who was “besotted”.
At one stage during the appearance, Kelly took over rocking the baby to settle her.
Presenter Ross King also joined the interview on a video call from Los Angeles to congratulate Smith, who he has known since she was a baby.
Kelly told him: “It’s just lovely Ross, it’s just been a very, very special time.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
