"I couldn't find Olympia's bottle... I got so upset I started crying" - When Serena Williams opened up about postpartum depression
Serena Williams once shared intimate details of her life after the birth of her first daughter, Olympia. The tennis legend also hoped for better awareness of postpartum depression.
Williams and her now-husband, Alexis Ohanian, welcomed their first child, daughter Olympia, in 2017. The American suffered complications during childbirth and had to undergo an emergency C-section. This was followed by a worrying development of blood clots that required surgery and prolonged bed rest.
During a 2018 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Serena Williams shed light on her experience. She also indicated that she slipped into postpartum depression after the traumatic episode.
"Honestly, sometimes I still think I have to deal with it (post-partum depression)," she said at the time.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 13% of women who have just given birth primarily suffer from depression. Williams wished there would be a wider discussion about the issue.
"I think people need to talk about it more because it’s almost like the fourth trimester, it’s part of the pregnancy," she said.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion also recalled she once had a mental breakdown merely for being unable to find her daughter Olympia’s bottle.
"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," she said.
Serena Williams on her daughter Olympia's birth: "I don't know how I got through it all"
In the interview mentioned above from 2018, Serena Williams also said she had a suspicion about a possible C-section during her daughter Olympia’s birth.
"I knew I wasn’t going to be able to have her naturally, it was like this intuition," she said. "I just kept thinking, 'There is no way it’s going to happen,' and it didn’t."
The American recalled the emotions her mother, Oracene Price, went through while watching her suffer.
"What I went through was awful. Looking back, I don’t know how I got through it all. I mean I was praying; I know my mom was praying a lot," she remembered.
Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian previously opened up about the difficult period. He noted that the tennis legend, who was on medication, couldn’t walk and had a hole in her abdomen that required care daily.
Ohanian, a tech entrepreneur, has championed paternity leave ever since. In 2023, following the birth of their second daughter, Adira, the Reddit co-founder took an extended break to attend to his family.