Amanda Seyfried slams how society treats new mothers
Amanda Seyfried has called out how poorly new mothers are treated by the healthcare system in America.
Appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Saturday Night Live alum asked Seyfried about her new film A Mouthful of Air, which depicts a mother experiencing anxiety and depression following the birth of her child.
The actress explained that she was proud of the film because it "shows how we 'treat' mothers in the healthcare system, which is we don't. As soon as you have a baby, you go home, and that's it. There's no fourth-trimester check-ins. There's no, 'hey, are you feeling okay?'"
The Mamma Mia! star, who welcomed her second child with husband Thomas Sadoski last year, talked about how "crazy" it is that single mothers are expected to handle new motherhood alone. Seyfried noted how "lucky" she is to have her mother live with her family, especially when she needs to work.
"It's so traumatic to deliver a baby, even if you're not suffering from anxiety or depression - or any kind of mental illness," she continued. "Every mother I've ever spoken to I know is terrified of the night times, because you put your baby to sleep and you're just hoping that they don't die in the middle of the night.
"It's grim but it's the reality of motherhood... It's really hard and we don't talk about it enough and I hope this movie generates that conversation. I hope people understand that there is a lot of help out there and that we need more of it. We can't be forgotten as women..."
The 35-year-old's comments come shortly after she revealed to People that "something went wrong" when she gave birth to her son Tommy in September 2020 and she is still "healing from something".
Seyfried and Sadoski are also parents to a four-year-old daughter named Nina.
