Jennifer Lawrence Details ‘Extremely Isolating’ Postpartum Experience After 2nd Child

The 34-year-old actress stars in a new film “Die, My Love,” that deals with postpartum depression and psychosis.

Jennifer Lawrence attends 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2' New York Premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on Nov. 18, 2015, in New York City. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Jennifer Lawrence has garnered an Oscar for Best Actress since landing her breakout part in the 2010 thriller “Winter’s Bone.” But behind the scenes, her role is that of a doting mom, having welcomed her second child with husband Cooke Maroney earlier this year.

“Having children changes everything, it changes your whole life—it’s brutal and incredible,” the actress, 34, said in Cannes while promoting her new film “Die, My Love” this past weekend. 

The psychological drama, directed by Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, premiered at the French film festival on May 17, drawing a six-minute standing ovation.

In the film, Lawrence portrays a writer and new mother named Grace, who struggles with her mental health after relocating from New York to a rural Montana farmhouse with her husband, played by actor Robert Pattinson.

“Die, My Love” is an adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s Argentinian novella “Matate, amor.” Originally published in 2012 and made available in English five years later, the book provides an intensely raw exploration of motherhood, plunging readers into the mind of a woman grappling with postpartum depression and psychosis.

“There’s not really anything like postpartum—it’s extremely isolating,” Lawrence said at the press conference. “But the truth is, extreme anxiety and extreme depression are isolating, no matter where you are. You feel like an alien.” 

The “Hunger Games” star drew upon her own experiences with postpartum depression for her new role. The actress, whose son, Cy, was born in February 2022, was around five months pregnant with her second child when production began on “Die, My Love.”

“A part of what [Grace] is going through is the hormonal imbalance that comes with postpartum,” Lawrence said. “But she’s also having an identity crisis. Who am I as a mother? Who am I as a wife? ... And I think she’s plagued with this feeling that she’s disappearing.”

The Cleveland Clinic reports that more than half of all new mothers experience the “baby blues” after giving birth, the symptoms of which are usually temporary and can include mood swings and crying spells.

However, postpartum depression, which is characterized by overwhelming feelings of sadness and loneliness, is a far more severe and prolonged condition, affecting roughly 1 in 7 mothers. If left untreated, it can persist for months or even years after childbirth.

Gwendy Gregory, a certified birth and postpartum doula based in Tampa, Florida, told The Epoch Times that the intense emotional challenges women face after giving birth, though incredibly common, are often unspoken.

“After birth, many mothers feel like the world keeps turning while they are standing still. There’s a surreal mix of love, exhaustion, vulnerability, and identity shift that can feel alienating,” the All Is Well Doula founder said.

The hormonal fluctuations new mothers experience, including drops in estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol levels, only amplify these feelings.

“Isolation can quickly become overwhelming,” the mother of five said. “We weren’t designed to mother alone. We were meant to be surrounded, supported, and seen.”

Columbia University reports that the often overlooked fourth trimester—the few months following the baby’s birth—is just as, if not more, important than the months leading up to the delivery. Despite this, mothers tend to receive minimal healthcare support during this time.

“It’s a tender window where rest, nourishment, and support are essential for healing and bonding,” Gregory said. “Unfortunately, our culture often celebrates the baby while forgetting the mother. But thriving babies need thriving mothers.”

In addition to contending with the baby blues or postpartum depression, mothers can also face a slew of other complications, including difficulties breastfeeding, physical trauma from birth, and even grief over their former self.

And like the fictional Grace, real-life mothers may also encounter psychosis, experiencing an altered sense of reality, marked by hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia, among other serious behavioral changes. The rare but serious mental health emergency affects about 1 in 1,000 women and carries an increased risk of suicide and harm to the baby, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

“Postpartum is sacred,” Gregory said. “It’s messy, beautiful, exhausting, and holy all at once. And when we honor it with intention—whether through community care, mental health support, or simply showing up with compassion—we give mothers the space to heal and thrive.”

Touching on the joys of motherhood after navigating her own postpartum challenges, Lawrence said her children have given her a newfound outlook on her craft as an actress.

“I didn’t know that I could feel so much, and my job has a lot to do with emotion,” she told the media at Cannes.

“They’ve opened up the world to me. It’s almost like feeling like a blister or something, [it’s] so sensitive. So they’ve changed my life obviously for the best, and they’ve changed me creatively.”