"From being that 'Sexy Sam', I went to this": Sameera Reddy opens up on battling depression after her first pregnancy

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan making a red carpet appearance at Cannes after giving birth to her first child, was among the first examples of how body shamers run down someone for their post-pregnancy weight. Sameera Reddy too faced a similar phase after the birth of her son. As the actress gears up to welcome her second child, she opens up on the ‘tough’ post-pregnancy phase where she put on excessive weight, felt depressed and struggled with numerous health issues. 

READ: 'Say What You Want Guys, I Think I Have A Superpower': Pregnant Sameera Reddy Has This Message For Trolls Who Body Shamed Her

Sameera, who married businessman Akshai Varde in 2014, in a recent interview shared that she got pregnant within a few months of her marriage. After pregnancy, her initial plan was to get back into shape soon and into the limelight as early as possible, but that wasn’t to be.  

Sameera called it the ‘worst case scenario’ in terms of her body after the pregnancy and she ‘fell apart’ as a person due to the tough situation. 

The ‘Maine Dil Tujhko Diya’ star suffered from placenta previa after pregnancy, where she needed to be on bed rest for almost five months. That condition led to weight gain for her, and the ‘pressure’ of the ‘unreal life’ in showbiz and trying to live up to it proved to be a bad decision. Being unable to handle her pregnancy, becoming the 'poster girl of what pregnancy shouldn’t be' impacted her deeply and she became a ‘recluse.’ Looking back, the actress feels it was a ‘cowardly act.’ 

Sameera says she put on 32 kilos to weigh 102 kilos after pregnancy. The actress says she went from being ‘Sexy Sam’ to not being able to recognise herself, calling herself a ‘mess.’ 

The ‘Taxi Number 9211’ star revealed that people asking her questions like 'Is this Sameera Reddy? What happened to her?' made her ‘depressed’ and pushed her into a ‘further hole’. The actress shared that it came to a point where she couldn’t stand anyone glaring at her. Losing patches of hair due to Alopecia areata, unrelated to pregnancy, affected her mental health further. Sameera says despite all her trouble, she was a 'good mother.'

Sameera shares that she worked very hard and with therapy, understood that she was ‘lost’ and ‘confused’ in the transformation of her life from an actor to becoming a mother and a wife. 

READ: WATCH: Sameera Reddy's Baby Shower With Pink Snowflakes And Onesie Art Is Too Cute For Words

Now, the actress says that she has embraced the fact that gaining weight is a part of the process.  Sameera says it’s not possible for everyone to look glamorous all the time and that she wanted to come out and say to people that it’s okay to look like this. 

Sameera recently celebrated her baby shower in an adorable ceremony recently.