Martin Daniel and Alexandra Backstrom: – Both suffered from postpartum depression:

Martin Daniel (33) He appeared on TV as a judge in the singing competition “The Voice” on TV 2 in 2017 and 2019.

He is himself a DJ and directs the electronics project “CLMD”, which is jointly nominated with Martin Tonjevag for the Spellemann Prize 2020 and P3Gull for the monster movie “DANCE”.

In private, he’s also had success. Since 2015, he has been in a relationship with the former Norwegian Miss World, Alexandra Backstrom. In October 2019, they became the parents of little Alf Gustav, and we were barely able to detect after a year They have engaged.

Now they tell Dagbladet what would have been a very dramatic start to family life.

I got postpartum depression

When Alexandra was eight days old, childbirth began. It lasted for about three days before I decided on it The baby had to be discharged through an emergency caesarean section – And it turned out to be a very important decision.

The “little” baby was 5,430 kilograms when he was born.

– I had a very painful birth. Some days were hard, and I think it was frightening to be on the sidelines and see my dear suffer, says Martin, and adds:

It was a dramatic birth

– It was difficult to determine the severity, but we got the message that if the head stuck, it could be really bad.

Alexandra lay in bed for several weeks after the operation, unable to lift her baby, nor change diapers.

– I ended up on a treadmill where I felt like I wasn’t good enough. I could not give birth properly, I could not breastfeed properly – and this made me doubt myself as a mother.

She had postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression is a collective term for several emotional or depressive disorders that can occur during or after pregnancy, and it is not uncommon. About one in ten Norwegian women suffers from pregnancy-related postpartum depression. Writes Hellsnorge on their websites.

So they refused from “The Voice”.

– I think it was difficult, because I had a kind of picture in my head of how everything should be. A lot because of what you see in social media, it didn’t happen either.

Fortunately for the new mom, the heavy thoughts were picked up early on, and she got help right away.

– There were some heavy surfaces, but I feel it handled really well and fast. I got help I didn’t know I needed.

– who am I?

It was a little worse for Martin.

The first half of the year as a father was difficult for the artist. With his mother lying in bed, a lot of responsibility falls on him alone. When Alexandra started reaching for the hooks again and he could drop his shoulders, he slammed.

– I felt a little anxious

It was some kind of postpartum depression, and it probably had a lot to do with childbirth. When you are in a crisis situation, you work to get past it and get into combat mode. So when we got back to the routine, I felt like there were many traumas left from birth. It hit me a little.

Around the same time Martin met the so-called Wall, the pandemic hit hard and put the culture industry in a very difficult position.

– He came out tough on all fronts at the same time. I had some kind of identity crisis. Who am I as an unemployed father and artist?

Postpartum depression in men is less common than in women, and symptoms appear somewhat later, often up to six months after childbirth, according to Lumleggen.

The importance of transparency

The 33-year-old believes there is a lot of truth in what the fiancé has to say about the “perfect” picture of having children often viewed on Instagram. The couple says they talked a lot about it, and both agree that it’s important to show more nuances.

– I think it’s a bit taboo, but we think it’s important to be honest with ourselves. It can be tough and it can be tough. Becoming a parent is a change that is impossible to prepare for, and having children is both the hardest and the most beautiful thing.

Suddenly, she gave birth to Chai’s daughter: – DNA testing was not necessary.

Martin recently visited the Iselin Guttormsen podcast, “G points”, where he also talks about these aspects of parenting.

– I think it’s good to talk about it, and I’ve had several conversations with other parents about the same thing. So when Iselin asked me, I thought it was a great opportunity to share this stuff, because I believe it can help others – women and men alike. We need to create a dialogue about difficult things, too. “It’s okay to feel embarrassing at times,’ he tells Dagbladet, adding in conclusion:

– In the past, I received a lot of positive feedback and nice messages from people who shared their story. People have opened up to me, and I think that’s a good thing.