Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression

by Brooke Shields

Book Overview

In this compelling memoir, Brooke Shields talks candidly about her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, and provides millions of women with an inspiring example of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401301894
• Release Date: January 1900
• Publisher: Hyperion
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Heart-wrenching...and totally accurate.

Two and a half years ago, I could have written this book. From my emergency c-section to infected incision and spinal headaches, the physical pain I felt following the birth of my daughter was nothing compared to the six months of emotional hell that followed. What Brooke Shields has done has offered an outlet, and a sense of camaraderie and sisterhood to women in similar situations. Not only did she have to endure it, but her friends and family as well. Despite her beauty, poise and celebrity, anguish and pain lies behind closed doors and nothing ever really is as it seems. This is a well-written, insightful look at postpartum depression and its lasting consequences and effects on both women and their families. I applaud Brooke for putting into words -- and ultimately, the spotlight --?such a private journey.

The Struggle of a Caring Woman and Mother

While reading this graphic biography of a year or more in Brooke Shields life,I was moved with enormous compassion. She admits she had an ideal life.A caring husband and after a painful miscarriage,a chance for new life through I.V.F. Innocently,Chris, her husband, and Brooke prepared to be alone the first week to bond with their new baby girl.This proved to be more difficult than they had anticipated.The new born baby,Rowan,required breast feeding every 90 minutes. Brooke's body had not fully recovered from a traumatic birth resulting in a C-Section,and she lacked sleep.In short order both parent's felt over their heads.Brooke was unable to feel lovingly toward her baby and was frightened.Then,unbidden images and frightening thoughts came rushing into her head,leaving her afraid to be alone with her little daughter.Her husband,Chris,also worried,which made Brooke upset and apologetic for her serious postpartum condition. She finally revealed her circumstances to her gynecologist and gets the so necessary help.Slowly,with antidepressant medi- cation,and a trained nurse she begins to mend.Brooke acknowledges both the physical and emotional help she needed to overcome this awful disorder,that wrecks havoc in a woman's life and soul. Due to Brooke's high celebrity status,I think this book will help other mother's to have the courage to come forward when they have these hormonal symptoms. Perhaps,due to Brookes's unwavering honesty,she will have saved another woman's or child's life,for telling what severe postpartum was all about. Thank You Brooke-You are a courageous woman.

Good reading, and not just for expectant moms

This is a great book. Brooke talks about going through fertility treatments (including IVF) and the postpartum depression she felt after her baby was born. One of my friends went through postpartum depression after her son was born last year and it was a very painful thing for her. I had no understanding of PPD and did not know how to help her or what to say when she would tell me "I feel like my life is over" or "I made a huge mistake by having a baby." I wish I this book had been out then, because I would have had a better idea of how to help my friend. The book is very no-holds-barred and presents a warts-and-all picture of what it's like to bring home a new baby and not know what to do. She was in the hospital with the baby for 5 days and was fully into PPD by the time she got home. Brooke and her husband elected to have no help in the house the first week the baby was home and she was basically incapacitated, so her husband had to do everything. It's a very compelling read and it gave me a lot of things to think about. Even though Brooke wanted her baby very much and went through IVF twice to get her, the PPD was so overwhelming she felt no connection with her baby and felt like killing herself many times in the baby's first few weeks. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is pregnant, TTC or has a close friend or family member who is pregnant. If I had read this book last year, my friend who had PPD would not have had to suffer so long before she got help for her problem.

The book's title says it all; as does its' postscript.

Having suffered through PPD following the birth of my first child in 1998, it was with relief, and some measure of remembered sadness, that I read Ms. Shields' memoir.And yet, the author has confronted a subject that many of us find uncomfortable (and -- dare I say -- disdainful?) to talk about openly in today's "supermom" society.What is important to take away from this story is that husbands/in-laws/relations and friends of *any* sort need to be aware that as tragic (and unexpected, in most cases) as PPD is, it is treatable. And that as difficult as it seems to believe at the time, with appropriate help, mom WILL get better.I know I did.

Amazing!

I got this at the bookstore one afternoon and finished it the next day. My husband is now reading it, because Brooke does a fantastic job of putting into words much of what I felt after the birth of my son, but was unable to explain clearly to others. She pulls no punches, and is brutally honest about her thoughts of disconnect from her baby, her anger at family and friends for not getting it, and even her thoughts of suicide. But what she does best is show the help that is available, so that no mother should ever have to feel alone and hopeless. This is a book for every parent-to-be, so they are prepared for the possiblity; for every family member or friend who will be in frequent contact with a new mother, so they might recognize the problem before it gets out of control; and for anyone who has ever wondered 'Can it really be all that bad?' Yes, it can, yes, it is, and yes, there is help and hope.