“I have suffered with my mental health for a long time.”
Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healey has revealed that she suffered “dark thoughts” during her second pregnancy.
The actor, who plays Goldie McQueen on the Channel 4 soap, welcomed her second child Cookie last December after her issues with mental health “hit its peak”.
“I have suffered with my mental health for a long time and it hit its peak while I was pregnant,” she shared during a candid new interview with The Sun.
The actor, who also has a seven-year-old daughter named Coco, continued: “There were times when I would have dark thoughts then blame myself, because I would think, ‘How can I be like this when I am pregnant and have a young girl who needs her mum?’
“There were moments when I couldn’t get out of it mentally and then I would put myself in a bigger hole, thinking, ‘Why am I feeling this way?'”
Healey revealed she was struggling so much that she was scheduled in for a C-section three weeks before Cookie was due.
“Cookie was due on January 14 and they put me in for my C-section on December 22. They knew I was really struggling,” she said.
“I was having counselling throughout, but I did struggle with postpartum depression after giving birth, and it was tough.”
Explaining how her first pregnancy was “was so much easier”, Healey added: “I flew through it and bounced back, body-wise and mentally. The second was a completely different story.”
Healey temporarily exited Hollyoaks in January to accommodate her maternity leave, but recently confirmed she’ll return to the soap after her upcoming stint on Dancing on Ice.
