Her Story.

Her bio

Tanya Newbould is an American actress born in Manchester, England. She was adopted in England. She and her family moved to Michigan as an infant until she was 21.

With a desire to be in the entertainment field, Tanya moved to Los Angeles and began modeling

and competing in the pageant world. She held the titles of Miss Newport Beach, Miss Hollywood, 1st runner up in Miss California as well as Miss Southern California and 3rd runner up to Ms. United States. Tanya’s next step was to parlay her experience into the entertainment industry where she diligently studied the dramatic arts.

With 18 films to her credit such as “Family Man” with Nicolas Cage, “Rush Hour 2” with Jackie Chan, “Red Dragon” with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Edward Norton, as well as “X-Men: The Last Stand”. All were directed by Brett Ratner who also Executive Produced “Skyline” which she loved shooting. She continues her acting career today as well as a Public Speaker.

Tanya was asked by Jamielyn Lippman to be interviewed for the documentary “Die Trying” which Lippman had created, produced and directed.. Tanya was so impressed with Jamielyn that she shared her struggles about Postpartum Depression and how she couldn’t find help. She felt strongly that there needed to be a documentary about this prevalent subject and asked Lippman to Produce it with her and be the director. This film that Tanya produced is called When the Bough Breaks, a feature length documentary about pp depression and pp psychosis. We will be talking about it throughout this conversation and Tanya will be telling us why she felt so strongly about producing a film about postpartum life and in particular, to put herself out there and be so vulnerable to the rest of the world about her personal struggles.

I am always interested in learning more about the personal side, the creative side of my guests and when perusing through her website, I noticed some beautiful pieces of jewelry. I learned thatTanya is also an L.A. based jewelry designer under her married name Del Pozzo Designs. Her jewelry line is unique, one of a kind and always evolving. Tanya uses precious, semi precious stones, gorgeous pearls, gold and silver.

I loved sharing this introduction because as women, we all should be proud of all our accomplishments and happy to share them with the world. I also felt it was important to share Tanya’s background because it helps to decrease some of the stigma, fear and shame that surrounds this very important subject. Postpartum depression, psychosis, anxiety is a subject that is frequently left out of prenatal visits and childbirth classes. After all, new motherhood is exciting and joyful and for many something we have been waiting such a long time to experience. For many, it just does not seem right to talk about anything negative associated with the blessings of new parenthood. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, you may keep quiet because of what you fear others will think of you. The problem is, in leaving out and not discussing the experience that 1 out of 5 new mothers experience, we are doing harm, leaving mothers without resources and adding to the stigma that already surrounds this mental health issue. When the Bough Breaks is a hard hitting, hard to watch, and yet a must watch documentary. Not just for pregnant moms, but for pregnant parents, their families and any healthcare provider who works with mothers and children.

Her Background:

Tanya talks about her feelings about show business and acting. She states that while she loves acting, she does not necessarily enjoy the business end of it. Producing When the Bough Breaks was deeply and personally satisfying to her to be a part of such an important film. She struggled with postpartum issues and feels strongly to educate the public about this issue.

Was she breastfed:

She knows that she was not. She was taken from her mom the day she was born and spent the next 6 weeks in foster care until she was adopted. She was fed by having the bottle propped for her so she was not held a lot. She has abandonment issues and feels perhaps this was related to her early days. Tanya is very happy to say that she was raised by a very loving family and had a good childhood.

Her thoughts of breastfeeding:

She was 42 when she naturally conceived her baby. She had a good pregnancy, however, at about the 4 month mark she started noticing some signs of depression that she needed to address with therapy. It was definitely nerve wracking giving birth to this new little being and how the first few days of breastfeeding are.

She got implants at age 23 and she feels that her struggles with exclusive breastfeeding was that her baby was hungry. This was frustrating for her, particularly at night, she always woke up with her heart pounding so loud, as if she was in an earthquake. Breastfeeding took so long, she was up for so many hours and was incredibly tired. Ava cried a lot and she realized that she was not able to get enough from breastfeeding and that her little baby was hungry. And yet, she also says that she loved the experience of breastfeeding… her little eyes looking up at you while feeding, she loved that.

Her daughter had really bad colic, which was devastating for her. She went to La Leche League group and did not have the best of experience. She felt judged when she said that she was not exclusively breastfeeding. Tanya tells us that she felt very judged and very panicked that she wasn’t doing it right, doing it good enough. Since her baby had colic, she just began to feel like she was doing it all wrong. She recognizes now that she was also dealing with postpartum depression at that time.

We talked about while she did love breastfeeding and the bonding time with her baby. She recongizes that it does not always work out for all moms and for some moms it is not a positive experience.

One day, her baby just pushed away from her breast. She was crying and refusing to breastfeed. So she stopped offering. She did not realize that she could have tried offering her the next day or the day after that. Perhaps it was just an “off” day or a nursing strike and she may have gone back to breastfeeding. Tanya forgives herself because she understands that she just did not know to do anything different. Being that she was so sleep deep

Depression during pregnancy:

She did not experience depression before her pregnancy, however, at 4 1/2 months she describes having an episode in her kitchen where she found herself on her kitchen floor crying heavily. She started therapy and learned a few things about herself. Her therapist said that she suspects her birth mother realized that she had to give her up when she was 4 1/2 months pregnant. This gave me chills. She received the help she needed during her pregnancy. Her therapist did not tell her, at that time, that she was at a greater risk factor for postpartum depression.

Tanya wanted this pregnancy and yet she suffered from depression. Tanya wanted this baby and yet she soon found herself in a deep, dark place and was feeling quite depressed. A colicky baby, along with sleep depression, poor nutrition and the hormonal shift that naturally happens after birth, all this contributed to her feelings of postpartum depression when Ava was about 3 weeks old. Her husband had to work, she did all the feedings.

Her physician wanted to put her on anti-depressants, but Tanya was not comfortable with this.

Postpartum Depression:

A friend of hers took her out to breakfast and noticed that something was wrong with her. Tanya immediately got defensive and yet her friend insisted that something was wrong. She tried to figure out what was wrong with her. When Ava was 4 1/2 months pregnant, she was given the Book – Down Came the Rain, by Brooke Shields. Tanya read this book in one afternoon and realized “I have ppd.” Everything in her book sounded so familiar to me.

Tanya said: I had a traumatic birth. I do not do well with anesthesia. I went into severe shock and shaking and throwing up for 6 hours after I had her. The nurse told me that she had never seen anyone have this severe of a reaction. On top of all this, the nurse brought her baby to her and while she is dealing with her incision and throwing up, she is expected to now breastfeed her baby. I can’t imagine how this must have felt for Tanya. Tanya said that she was so exhausted. She had so many people come in and visit and now realizes that this was a huge mistake. New moms need rest, quiet and privacy.

Home alone with a baby:

Tanya talks about having such severe anxiety when the sun went down. During that time, she remembers thinking that this is her life forever. It feels so permanent and it is hard to see beyond the day that is in front of you. Tanya would look at her beautiful daughter and remembers thinking: “why would anyone ever do this to themselves.” She just wanted to “just be Tanya.” She shares a story about going to the mall an observing other mothers with their babies. They seem to be so happy and this made her wonder: “what’s wrong with me.”

When Ava was 6 weeks old, she was getting her hair done. A few friends saw her and told her that she just did not look good and they felt something was wrong. Tanya tells the story of what happened next and why she spend the next few days living in fear.

Once she realized that it was postpartum depression that she was suffering with, she decided to go to a naturopath to treat her condition holistically. He put her on 5htp and rosehip oil. It took a few weeks to feel its effects and one day she realized – she was coming out of the depression. She returned to work shortly after which she feels was a good decision on her part.

Tanya explains how the documentary came about:

She met Jamielyn Lippman who was doing a documentary in which Tanya was interviewed for. She was very impressed with Jamielyn and asked her if she would consider directing a documentary on ppd. Jamielyn said she did not know much about ppd but said she would look into it. She posted a question on a mommy blog about ppd and received so many responses and knew she was onto something. Tanya gave the name of the Documentary after a nursery rhyme she would sing to her daughter – When the Bough Breaks. I can’t think of a more fitting name.

The Film:

70 countries and 5 languages and on netflix, itunes, DVD from website a facebook page – when the bough breaks.
Help people, educate people. not just for pregnant person, your husband, your friends, everyone helps to educate others to look for a warning signs.
The more people know, the more you can help them. Not just a matter of being tired.

Educate Healthcare Providers:

Screenings in hospitals.
More HCP are asking questions.
Ava’s pediatrician – she said: wow, I always asked hows Ava and I never once asked how are you?

Words of Wisdom from Tanya to new moms:

You are enough.
You are doing a great job.
You will figure this out.
There is no one right answer.
You are blessed.
Hang in there.

Tanya’s contact info:
Tanya Del Pozzo – tanya4re@me.com
Tanyanewbould – Instagram and Facebook

Postpartum Help Info:

https://www.whentheboughbreaksfilm.com/#/

If you or a loved one are affected by postpartum depression or other postpartum disorders and need help, you can call Postpartum Support International — at 1-800-944-4773. Additionally, she says, the When the Bough Breaks Facebook page is a wonderful community where you can connect with other women who have experienced the pain of PPD.

Once there you will information on a toll free hotline, online support groups, mental health professionals in your area you can meet with, a screening tool with 10 questions that you can fill out and show to family members and your physician as well as information on where to go for Dads who also need to talk to professionals.

PSI Toll-free Helpline 800-944-4PPD (English & Spanish)

Postpartum Support International (PSI) www.postpartum.net

PSI Support & Coordinator Network www.postpartum.net/get-help/locations/

PSI Facebook Closed Group www.facebook.com/groups/25960478598/

Free Telephone Chat with an Expert (one for moms and one for dads) www.postpartum.net/chat-with-an-expert/

PSI Online Support Group www.postpartum.net/psi-online-support-meetings

http://www.fresno.ucsf.edu/pediatrics/downloads/edinburghscale.pdf