'Charlie's Angels' star Drew Barrymore confesses postpartum depression after second child's birth, posts pictures on Instagram

Though Drew Barrymore loves being with her two kids, 3-year-old Olive and 18-month-old Frankie, she admitted recently that parenting hasn't always been an easy task.

In an interview with People magazine, the 40-year-old "Donnie Darko" star revealed that she was suffering through postpartum depression after her second child was born.

"I didn't have postpartum the first time with Olive so I didn't understand it because I was like, 'I feel great,'" she said. "The second time with Frankie, 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."

Fortunately, Barrymore said her postpartum depression was "short-lived, probably six months." She eventually overcame it and has been living a "perfect and totally imperfect" life.

On how she connects with her two daughters, Barrymore said: "Honestly, I don't know how it is for other couples but really I like watching him be a father. I know everyone says you're supposed to put your coupledom first, but I really love it being all about the kids.

 

 Me, Frankie and the flowers. #happymothersday

A photo posted by Drew Barrymore (@drewbarrymore) on May 10, 2015 at 2:26pm PDT

"Maybe that's my compensating for not having parents myself or a childhood but right now, the focus is about how we're figuring things out as parents."

 

I rely on a few different perfumes to carry me through the day. This is the image for our first scent CHERISHED! It was inspired by the moments with my daughter and the the beautiful chaos that is "home". This was so personal for me but I believe there should be a fragrance for every mood. More to come... #fragrenceforeverymood A photo posted by Drew Barrymore (@drewbarrymore) on Nov 25, 2014 at 10:21am PST

Besides Barrymore, Gwyneth Paltrow has also talked about the impact of postpartum depression on her life. In an interview with ET, she described her experience with the disorder after her second child was born in 2006.

"Luckily, in my case, it was low grade enough that I didn't have to be hospitalised, but it's a very debilitating thing, and I think there's so much shame around it and there shouldn't be," the "Iron Man" actress said.

"It's something that happens, it's something that befalls many women after they have a baby, and for me, it ended up being a wonderful opportunity to explore some underlying issues that I think the depression kind of brought out."