US First Daughter, Ivanka Trump Finally Talks About Her Battle With Postnatal Depression After 3 Kids

A year after welcoming her third child, first Daughter Ivanka Trump opens up about experiencing “some level” of postpartum depression after giving birth to her children Arabella, 6, Joseph, 3, and Theodore.

US President Donald Trump‘s eldest daughter, 35, and her husband, Jared Kushner, 36, have three children: Arabella, 6, Joseph, 3, and Theodore, 1.

Theodore was born in March 2016, in the midst of the 2016 Republican primaries, during which Trump often hit the campaign trail with her father.

During a Thursday appearance on The Dr. Oz Show, Trump, who also serves as his senior adviser, described the period after the birth of each of her three children as a “very challenging emotional time”.

”With each of my three children I had some level of postpartum,” she shares during the interview, which will air in full on Thursday.

When Dr. Oz asks her to clarify, she confirms she’s talking about postpartum “depression.”

”It was a very challenging, emotional time for me because I felt like I was not living up to my potential as a parent or as an entrepreneur and as an executive. And I had had such easy pregnancies that in some way the juxtaposition hit me even harder,” she added.

At the time, according to her, she didn’t realize it was PPD.

”Well I didn’t know that I was,” she admits.

”But you asked me a question and…it’s incredibly important and look I consider myself a very hard-charging person, I am ambitious, I’m passionate, I’m driven, but this is something that affects parents all over the country.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Trump discusses her role in the White House and her efforts to improve the lives of working women.

”There’s some who created a narrative that you should be a voice of moderation,” Dr. Oz says.

”Well I think that my role, and anyone who works for the President of the United States, their role is to inform, advise and then ultimately execute,” she shares.

”So I’m not the decision maker. I have my views and I share them candidly and as a daughter I have the latitude to do that, but I also respect the process and my father is now president and the American people elected him based on his agenda and my job isn’t to undermine that agenda, it’s to embrace the areas where there’s commonality and there are so many areas.”

New Mum, Blessing Obasi Speaks On The Pressure And Stigma Of Getting Married At Older Age

She continues,

”I’m deeply passionate about fueling the growth of women entrepreneurs, I’m deeply passionate about supporting America working families.

So I feel privileged that he’s given me the platform to push areas and push issues that are aligned with his agenda. Where I disagree with the agenda, I’ll share it with him quietly but I don’t view it as my obligation to moderate and I don’t think anyone working for a sitting president should see themselves in that capacity.”

Trump joins model Chrissy Teigen, singers Adele and Alanis Morissette, who are among the celebrity mothers who have opened up about their struggle to raise awareness about the postnatal depression.

According to a 2010 study from the US National Institutes of Health, postpartum depression does not only affect mothers. Approximately 4 per cent of fathers experience depression in the first year after their child’s birth.

The CDC recommends that people who believe they are experiencing postpartum depression talk to their health-care provider about treatment.

Photo credit: Instagram/ AP