If you or someone you know has ever struggled with motherhood and mental health, we recommend tuning into Sheridan Smith's new documentary, Sheridan Smith: Becoming Mum, on September 1st, as you will see you're very much not alone.
In the hour-long episode, the Gavin & Stacey star gives ITV producers unprecedented access to herself and her fiancé Jamie Horn in the four months up to the birth of her son Billy in May.
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Exploring the deeply personal and intimate story of her pregnancy and mental health struggles, past and present, the documentary follows Sheridan as she prepares to become a mum for the first time.
In the trailer, the 39-year-old actress is visibly emotional as she says: "No-one knows really what's going on behind it all. The biggest worry is you've had mental health issues in the past, will it rear its ugly head again?
"Now I'm pregnant it feels like I've got a second chance at life."
The teary screen star adds: "I just hope I'm a good mum."
It's thought that as many as one in three women experience mental health issues during pregnancy and in the months that follow, and Sheridan's aim is to help them feel less alone as she reveals aspects of her own story that she's never spoken about before.
We'll watch as she attends her first scans and pre-natal classes, as well as therapy sessions in which she explores issues that she believes could stem from her childhood and the death of her sibling when she was eight.
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Both Sheridan and Jamie talk openly about their excitement and nerves about becoming parents, too.
Sheridan has been incredibly open about her struggles with mental health following the death of her father Colin in 2016, with the West End star revealing she had five seizures after she stopped taking anti-anxiety medication back in 2016 following a dig Graham Norton made about her.
"Graham Norton was hosting and made a joke at my expense about me being drunk," she said.
"I was so humiliated. It's a room full of your peers, people you want to work with or have worked with. That night, for me, was like the final straw before my brain totally went off the deep end."
The 39-year-old stated that people may not be aware that at the time, she had "become addicted to anti-anxiety tablets".
According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, anti-anxiety medication can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, including extreme worry and panic attacks. When you stop taking benzodiazepines, which they say is the most common form of anti-anxiety medication, it's recommended to do so gradually to reduce withdrawal effects, such as the seizures that Sheridan suffered from.
Luckily, it looks like things have turned a corner for the Cleaning Up actress, who said that during the early stages of her pregnancy, she had "just got myself to a good place and I thought, 'Please don't let this be a turning point where things change for me'."
The day her son first smiled at her "was more amazing and emotional even than the day he was born, because you suddenly think, 'Oh my god - you love me back!'".
"Suddenly all those sleepless nights and all that worry goes out the window," Smith said. "You look in those little eyes and the love you feel - it's like a connection I've never felt."
We wish her all the best.
'Sheridan Smith: Becoming Mum' airs on ITV on Tuesday 1st September at 9pm
Featured Image Credit: ITV