Shay Mitchell isn’t gonna lie: she never wants to get pregnant again.
Last Thursday was the season finale of the third season of Katie’s Crib, which features Katie Lowes and a guest to speak on new motherhood — and Mitchell, 33, was frank when it came to depression and adding to her family.
“For the majority of [my pregnancy], I was so blessed and liked a lot of it,” Mitchell, who shares 1-year-old daughter Atlas Noa with boyfriend Matte Babel, told Lowes. “But the parts I didn’t like, I’m like ‘Oh man, wow.’ “
She adds, “I’m going to be honest and say it. I want [Atlas to have] a sibling so bad, but I don’t want to go through pregnancy again. I wasn’t that beaming goddess that absolutely loved it. I don’t want to do it again because it took a toll on me mentally.”
“I had prepartum, not post, but pre,” she continues.
“That was something I didn’t know back then. I only knew postpartum so I was preparing myself for that. But then when I was upset and not feeling my best during, I was like, ‘Wait what’s this? Nobody talked about this. I should be so happy right now.’ So I’m nervous to go back into it for that again. However, I feel like if I’m home and I can be comfortable and I don’t put the pressure on myself, I’ll be more at ease.”
“I have to say, my first and second pregnancies were completely different,” says Lowes, who shares son Albee, 3, and daughter, Vera, 3 months, with husband Adam Shapiro.
“I wasn’t sick a day with Albee, and I’ve never been so sick in my life with my daughter. It was a very different experience. You will prepare yourself. Maybe you should get pregnant tomorrow…”
“We need to talk again next season … I’m going to put money on it that you will have a second child then,” Lowes later says.
“I’ll probably put money on it too,” Mitchell agrees.
And in October of 2019, Mitchell revealed to HATCH about her struggles to get pregnant after a previous miscarriage.
“I previously had a miscarriage and that experience gave me anxiety about sharing the news of this pregnancy with anyone outside of our parents,” Mitchell shared. “With the first pregnancy, I was elated and told everyone at eight weeks. However, I wanted to be sure that this second pregnancy would be viable before shouting it from the rooftops, so I hid it for nearly six months and became very antisocial.”
“Usually, I’m incredibly active and outgoing, but instead, I mainly stayed home to avoid stares and questions. I was extremely lonely,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell shared how she didn’t tell anybody about pregnancy and began to gain weight — which made her “paranoid” that her team was judging her and thinking she should “hit the gym” which only added to her loneliness.
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After sharing her personal experience with “prepartum depression,” she questioned why it is a topic many don’t discuss openly.
“As long as I can remember, I’ve heard about postpartum depression. However, to be depressed at the beginning came as a shock,” she said.
“The isolation and anxiety I experienced was crippling. I thought I was going out of my mind and questioned why nobody ever talked to me about this phase.”
“I’ve been fortunate since sharing the news of my pregnancy to have some amazing conversations with other pregnant women and moms and know that all these feelings are ‘normal,’ so now we just need to normalize them by discussing more openly!” Mitchell added.
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