Serena Williams opens up about her postnatal depression

She gave birth last year

Serena Williams and Alexis
Author: Anna Sky MagliolaPublished 31st May 2018

Serena Williams has a successful tennis career and is a mum to nine-month-old Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, however she has recently opened up about her struggles with postnatal depression.

The sports star welcomed her baby daughter back in September 2017 and has revealed that following a difficult birth she struggled. The 36-year-old was forced to have an emergency caesarean and surgery for blood clots in her lungs during the birth of her baby.

Revealing to Harper's Bazaar that she has gone through some tough times she said, "Honestly, sometimes I think I still have to deal with it.

"I think people have to talk about it more because it's almost like the fourth trimester, it's part of the pregnancy.

"I remember one day, I couldn't find Olympia's bottle and I got so upset I started crying because I wanted to be perfect for her."

However, things are looking up for the sports star who returned to tennis just six months after giving birth. In February Serena's husband Alexis Sr. wanted to make the moment very memorable for his wife, taking to Instagram, Serena revealed that he had taken out advertising on four huge billboards in Palm Springs, California.

The video showed each billboard with a different design. The first is a photo of their daughter with the text 'GREATEST', the second is of Serena and Alexis Jr, with the word 'MOMMA', whilst the third is another photo of Alexis Jr. saying 'OF ALL TIME'.

The fourth billboard then read, 'Serena Williams G.M.O.A.T. - Alexis Jr + Sr', on a bright pink background with another photo of the tennis star and her daughter dressed in pink.

Serena first revealed a photo and the name of her new addition on social media in September, with a gorgeous photo of herself with her little baby. The photo was captioned, 'Meet Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. You have to check out link in bio for her amazing journey. Also check out my IG stories 😍😍❤️❤️' and attracted over one million likes on Instagram.

See which other celebrities welcomed babies last year.

Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams


Serena Williams opens up about her postnatal depression
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Earlier this month Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian attended the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and were snapped saying "goodbye" to their daughter before the ceremony. Cute!

Since returning to tennis, Serena is also doing well and beat Kristyna Pliskova in the first round of the French Open this week and she will compete at Wimbledon in July.