Down Came the Rain
Categories: Nonfiction , Health & Nutrition
Not that anybody could have missed it, but TomKat got married over the weekend. One of the guests at the wedding was Brooke Shields, with whom Tom had a very public spat last year. Tom, as you might recall, criticized Brooke's use of antidepressants to help treat her severe postpartum depression. Brooke responded with an op-ed piece in the New York Times that denounced Cruise's "ridiculous rant" and suggested that perhaps Mr. Cruise should keep silent on the issue, since he had "never suffered from postpartum depression." As indicated by her presence at his wedding, the two have since made up.
Cruise and Shields's war of words began shortly after the release of Brooke's memoir Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression. After enduring two years of unsuccessful IVF attempts and a miscarriage, Brooke gave birth to daughter Rowan in 2003.
Although Shields had an easier-than-average pregnancy, her labor and delivery were extremely difficult and eventually resulted in an emergency c-section. At home, things got progressively worse: Brooke cried constantly, felt little connection to her daughter, and experienced growing feelings of inadequacy as a mother. Believing it was just the "baby blues", Brooke shrugged off her emotions, assuming they would get better over time. They didn't. She started thinking about killing herself and had visions of Rowan being thrown repeatedly against a wall. With the help of medication, therapy, and her family, Brooke was eventually able to fight through her depression and become a loving mother to Rowan.
Although Shields's book may be the most famous one about dealing with postpartum depression, the library has many others in its collection:
- Why I Jumped by Tina Zahn
- A Deeper Shade of Blue by Ruta Nonacs
- The Ghost in the House by Tracy Thompson
- The Mother-to-Mother Postpartum Depression Support Book by Sandra Poulin
- Behind the Smile by Marie Osmond
