Drew Barrymore has revealed that she suffered from post-partum depression for a lengthy period after giving birth to her second child last year.

The actress, and recent star of the well-received Miss You Already, welcomed her second daughter, Olive, into the world 18 months ago, a younger sister for her first daughter Frankie, now 3. However, the struggles of juggling work and motherhood took their toll on Barrymore after a while, and she opened up to suffering from the condition for approximately six months.

Drew BarrymoreDrew Barrymore shared her experience with post-partum depression after having her second daughter

“I didn't have post-partum the first time so I didn't understand it because I was like, 'I feel great!'” she revealed in a new interview with People. “The second time, I was like, 'Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand.' It's a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud.”

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Barrymore’s revelation comes a short time after another high-profile Hollywood name, Hayden Panettiere, opened up about having what is commonly referred to as ‘the baby blues’ after having her daughter Kaya.

The 40 year old actress continued: “I just got right on the idea of, where do I need to be the most? Fifty-fifty would be ideal but life doesn't work like that. Life is messy,” she concluded. “It was just really challenging and I felt overwhelmed. I made a lot of decisions and I definitely changed my work life to suit my parenthood.”

However, she insists that she loves her “perfect and totally imperfect” life with her husband, art consultant Will Kopelman, and their two young daughters. She learned to cope by living in the present, and dealing with “one thing at a time”.

“It's really important,” she says about achieving a balance. “I was in the kids' class with Frankie and Olive this morning and I started fretting about some piece of work news that was just stressful… …and I just thought, 'Save it until after class.'”

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