Catherine Reitman.Photo: Catherine Reitman/Instagram
Producer, actress and mother of twoCatherine Reitmanwill be the first to tell you that postpartum depression is no joke. But in her case, it also led to an “ah-ha” moment that ended up inspiring her newest project: the popular Canadian-borne comedy seriesWorkin’ Moms.
“I went back to work about six weeks after I gave birth which was crazy early andexperienced some pretty bad postpartum depression, but didn’t know it at the time,” she toldGood Morning Americain aninterview published Tuesday.
“I would be driving, fantasizing that a car would hit me and put me in the hospital. [I thought] I would be in a coma and get taken care of and not have to worry about my responsibilities.”
Reitman, 37, recalled an incident that happened around that time that inspired her husbandPhilip Sternberg(who costars in and executive producesWorkin’ Momswith his wife) to tell her, ” ‘You’ve got to write this.’ ”
“It represents the battle cry that so many mothers feelwhether they’re stay-at-home momsor working — it’s a battle to get to be seen as the person we were before we gave birth,” she toldGMA.
“There’s just an incredible amount of loneliness as a mother, all this solitude no one really speaks to,” added Reitman, a mom of two sons. “There’s an identity crisis — a lot of us becomemothers and all of a sudden we’re expectedto become these selfless people. That’s not a really natural process. That, for me, never felt organic.”
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“The expectations on all of us to be full-time workers but pretend we don’t have kids and to be full-time mothers and pretend we don’t have a [career] is unrealistic and complicatedand to look good while doing it all, it’s a feat that not many can pull off,” Reitman continued.
“Have a lot of compassion for yourself and love for yourself and [try] caring less of what everyone else has to say,” she advised fellow moms. “If youcan find moments of success thenyou’re ahead of the curve.”
Workin’ Momsis currently on its third season, but season 1 is streaming on Netflix now.
source: people.com
