Cindy McCain Reacts To Daughter Meghan's Postpartum Anxiety Reveal
Meghan McCain — former co-host of "The View" and daughter of former presidential candidate John McCain — is spilling the beans with an audiobook memoir called "Bad Republican." In it, she reveals that after giving birth to her first child, a daughter named Liberty, she suffered from postpartum anxiety. Per an excerpt published in Variety, McCain claims her anxiety became "irrational," writing, "I was paranoid that someone was going to kidnap Liberty to the point that I considered hiring armed bodyguards outside our house. I was afraid people wanted to kill her ..."
She went on to reveal that this anxiety, on top of feeling "hated at a toxic work environment," ultimately led to her deciding to leave "The View." Specifically, it was an on-air exchange with Joy Behar that was the straw that broke the camel's back. After McCain said that Behar missed arguing with her while she was on maternity leave, Behar replied, "I did not. I did not miss you. Zero." During commercial, McCain began sobbing, only to pull it together right before the cameras started rolling again. "She'd triggered my postpartum anxiety and now I was on a roller coaster that I couldn't stop," McCain wrote.
McCain further opened up in an October 19 interview with People, saying she was "really paranoid, like barely showering and functioning." Now, her mother, Cindy, is speaking out on her daughter's pain.
Cindy McCain is 'so proud' of Meghan
Following Meghan McCain's revelation, Cindy McCain tweeted, "I am so proud of @MeghanMcCain for her strength and devotion to family. She leads by example and is also an amazing mother! Love you honey!" Meghan McCain retweeted the praise, writing, "I love you mom," complete with a heart emoji. Meghan revealed in "Bad Republican" that she leaned on her family during her battle with postpartum anxiety, both figuratively and literally. She suffered from postpartum preeclampsia, a condition that raised her blood pressure to a point where she sometimes couldn't breathe, let alone stand up. "I needed my husband and my sister-in-law to help me eat and walk. It was mortifying," she wrote (via Variety).
Meghan told People she learned she was suffering from a more serious condition than she thought. "I was shocked when [the doctor] told me," she said. She began noticing her symptoms on Halloween, saying, "I was just having a really hard time doing something as simple as leaving the house with a baby in a stroller." Her husband, Ben Domenech, told the magazine he had been given a bit of foresight by a fellow father, saying, "I will never forget what one of them told me at the end of a lengthy conversation, almost as an aside: 'Watch out for postpartum.'"
Now, Meghan has gotten back to "feeling steady" and is sharing her experience with the hope of helping other moms facing similar struggles. "There's no shame in any of it," she told People. "Everyone has a story."