Helen Flanagan suffered with anxiety after giving birth to her daughter Matilda.
Helen Flanagan
The 29-year-old actress - who also welcomed 15-month-old girl Delilah with husband Scott Sinclair last year - admitted having her first child made her lose "confidence" in herself as she tried to adjust to motherhood.
Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher on her 'Happy Mum Happy Baby' podcast, she said: "So for example with Matilda from always working, running around like mad to then suddenly having Matilda.
"Even though it was amazing just being this Mum, I kind of became quite in myself and like I got quite bad social anxiety and things like that because I wasn't really going out as much. "I kind of lost my confidence and even though I love her to bits, I found it quite hard in social situations. No one would think that because you know Helen, sure, you're an actress you can go talk to anyone but no."
The former 'Coronation Street' star explained she also suffered with "a little bit of OCD", and she opened up on a habit that makes her friends "laugh".
She added: "I'll say it to my friends and they do just laugh.. So, I had this habit were I like in social situations I had to like gulp all the time, excessively. It was really weird but anyway you kind of get these OCD things and your anxiety and what have you.
"And for me it was 100% was in overdrive after Matilda because you sort of have this really - you have this baby and you love them more than anything in the world and you start thinking crazy things like 'god, what happens if I like die, this baby needs me.' "
Meanwhile, Helen also opened up about her pregnancy and revealed she suffered with hyperemesis - a complication characterised by severe nausea, vomiting and weight loss - and she candidly opened up about the mental struggle.
She said: "Hyperemesis - I think it's more mentally that it affects you. I remember feeling like a rubbish Mum because I couldn't change a nappy. Just everything. You feel like a rubbish girlfriend or wife because you literally cannot do anything."
You can download Giovanna Fletcher's Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast from acast.com.
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