Best known for her role as Emily Fields in ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars, the Mississauga-born actress, Shay Mitchell guest starred on model Ashley Graham’s podcast Pretty Big Deal.
Pretty Big Deal invites some of Graham’s closest friends from the entertainment industry to discuss what makes them a pretty big deal.
In the episode “Shay Mitchell on the Toxicity of Mom Shamers,” Mitchell and Graham spill details about pregnancy, life post-birth, and the so called “Mom Shamers.”
Mitchell’s first child with her boyfriend of three-years, Matte Babel, was born on October 8, 2019. The couple named their daughter Atlas Noa Babel. During her interview with Graham, Mitchell admitted that the first time she heard the name Atlas, she disliked it. However, her and Babel then grew to like it and decided Atlas will be their name of their child. Their child’s name was chosen before the couple got pregnant.
At the time of the interview Graham herself was pregnant with her first child. So, naturally, during their discussion, Graham was soaking up all the information regarding child-birth and raising a newborn.
Mitchell did not announce the birth of her daughter until twelve days after the delivery, on October 20, 2019. She posted a close-up photo of Atlas latching onto her pointer finger, with the caption “Never letting go…” on her Instagram.
Mitchell left the house for the first time, without her daughter, on October 23, 2019. As a result, people on social media verbally assaulted her with negative comments, since they believed the newborn baby was only three-days-old. However, the baby was actually a few weeks old.
According to Mitchell, she told Graham that when she left, she felt that it was the right time to go out, and it was only for an hour and a half. Mitchell explained that her reaction “was like, how dare you already… make a new mom, who’s already going through a lot of doubt and guilt… when she leaves for the first time hear that. But, that should be something that’s celebrated. You’re living your life… as you did before, and as you will continue to with your child.”
Graham and Mitchell also talked about prepartum depression, a form of depression which occurs during early pregnancy. Mitchell voiced her experiences with the illness to which Graham agreed to having similar symptoms.
“You don’t feel [like] yourself and it was just really, really lonely,” Mitchell confessed when talking about prepartum depression. She revealed she felt guilty feeling this way considering other women would be grateful to be pregnant. Mitchell also said that she feels no one talks about prepartum depression, it’s usually about postpartum depression.
The community of motherhood can be good and bad according to Mitchell. She said this is because the comments directed at her, about being a bad mother, were also from mothers. Some mothers are supportive while others utter negativity.
With 27.3 million followers on Instagram, Graham applauded Mitchell for how well she deals with haters. Mitchell did not want to have a maternity leave after her pregnancy and finds herself working on her bed with Atlas. Her daughter is “the best assistant ever.”
Graham’s podcast, Pretty Big Deal, concluded by asking Mitchell, “what’s a pretty big deal for you?” To which she responded with, “family and friends.”
Pretty Big Deal can be found on all podcasting platforms.
