America Ferrera admits she felt anxious about giving birth to her second child during the coronavirus pandemic
America Ferrera confessed she had to cut down on her news intake while pregnant in order to not panic about giving birth amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 36-year-old former Superstore star revealed she’d had to tone down her media diet on an episode of the Katie’s Crib podcast released Thursday.
‘I just know I have to put up my filter because I don’t have the emotional capacity to let that in. I realized that really early on for me,’ she said.
Taking it easy: America Ferrera, 36, admitted she dealt with anxiety while pregnant for the second time and had to tone down her media diet due to the coronavirus pandemic
Ferrera described some of the textbook physiological and emotional symptoms of anxiety during her pregnancy.
‘For me I could feel my heart rate and my anxiety and my blood pressure and everything go up and also not being able to close my eyes at night and go to sleep because I’m sitting there with all these news stories swirling in my head,’ she explained.
‘Just realizing early on that I had to be very disciplined about what I let in because it just doesn’t serve you especially in a time when you don’t need that added stress when you’re pregnant.’
Anxious: ‘I could feel my heart rate and my anxiety and my blood pressure and everything go up and also not being able to close my eyes at night and go to sleep because I’m sitting there with all these news stories swirling in my head,’ Ferrera explained; shown in February
Filtering the news: ‘I just know I have to put up my filter because I don’t have the emotional capacity to let that in. I realized that really early on for me,’ she said. She and husband Ryan Piers Williams welcomed Lucia on May 4
She also admitted to fearing that her baby daughter Lucia could be infected with the coronavirus during the birthing process.
‘There’s the anxiety about the [coronavirus] itself which is like, you don’t want to get sick, you don’t want your children to get sick, you don’t want your newborn baby to get sick,’ she said.
Ferrera announced on Mother’s Day that she’d given birth to Lucia on May 4.
‘LUCIA MARISOL WILLIAMS arrived on May 4th to give me my Mother’s Day hugs and kisses herself. Mama, Dada & Big Brother are over the moon to welcome her bright light to our family,’ she caption a sweet photo of the baby’s tiny hand grasping her husband Ryan Piers Williams’ thumb.
The couple also share a son named Sebastian, who will be turning two on Monday.
Growing family: Ferrera and Williams also share a nearly two-year-old son named Sebastian; pictured in February
Confidence: Ferrera revealed her body image had improved since giving birth. ‘I’ve struggled with body image my whole life,’ she said. ‘What a waste of time and energy’; shown in January
Ferrera also delved into the positive ways her relationship with her body and her appearance have changed since giving birth.
‘I’ve struggled with body image my whole life,’ admitted the Real Women Have Curves star. ‘I feel like I’ve gotten to such a place, like f*** that s***. What a waste of time and energy.
‘F*** the patriarchy and f*** what my body is supposed to look like and also, f*** you even more when I just brought life into the world and then my body is supposed to look like something. F*** all of it,’ she said.
The actress recently departed NBC’s popular comedy Superstore, though her finale farewell was curtailed due to studio shutdowns from the coronavirus pandemic.
However, she’s agreed to return at the start of the sixth season to give her character some closure.
Saying goodbye: The actress recently departed NBC’s popular comedy Superstore, though her finale farewell was curtailed due to studio shutdowns from the coronavirus pandemic