Ms Ferris said she had empathy for the mother. After Hunter's birth, Ms Ferris knew something was not right. "It hit me very hard and very quick. I knew what I was experiencing wasn't normal. When I had these crazy thoughts I knew it wasn't rational but I couldn't help it, especially when there's this little person who needs his mother, it couldn't be a worse time."
She sought help from a maternal mental health nurse and her doctor and was given medication and saw a psychologist.
Today, Ms Ferris is revelling in motherhood. "I love being a mum." Support from local health services and coffee groups helped, she said.
"The other thing that helped me get past it, I started to follow my intuition and make conscious decisions about the kind of parent I wanted to be. There's almost too much information out there, saturating mums about what to do. As soon as I stopped listening to that and actually started listening to my baby, things began to get better."
She was recently named a finalist in the Indulge Bay Model competition after entering the event to overcome post-natal depression, regain her confidence and "celebrate my new role as a yummy mummy".
Trudy Hart, a lactation consultant, said many people focused so much on the birth of their baby, they were often unprepared for the parenting.
In her opinion, post-natal depression was often a result of sleep deprivation, stress and lack of support rather than a clinical condition.
