"Pregnant Chessie King Reveals Her Husband's Battle with Severe Postnatal Depression That Nearly Led to Divorce"

WHILE out on a jog – with his stunning wife and newborn baby at home – new dad Mat Lewis-Carter got the overwhelming urge to end his life.

Although he didn’t know it at the time, the presenter was suffering from , something one in ten new fathers experience after their child’s birth.

Influencer Chessie King is pregnant with her second child, after welcoming daughter Auraelia with husband Mat Lewis-Carter in 2021 Credit: SWNS Mat has opened up about struggling with postnatal depression following Auraelia birth Credit: Instagram

His daughter , now five, had arrived via c-section in July 2021, with Mat’s wife, body positive influencer Chessie King Carter, having a difficult pregnancy.

The 33-year-old – who is expecting her second child this month, suffered from (HG) – similarly to – which causes pregnant mums to have persistent nausea and vomiting.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Mat, 37, who co-hosts the podcast The Secret Life of Dads, shared: “I think a lot of dads can probably relate to this.

“I found it really hard to talk about anything in the first year, just because everything was physically happening to Chess.

Mat opened up about the moment he thought about ending his life Credit: Instagram Chessie is expecting her second child this month Credit: Instagram

“She had a really tough pregnancy with HG, where she was sick like up to 15 to 20 times a day.

“So to see her go through that for nine months and then become a mum for the first time, I felt like I didn’t really have an outlet or anywhere to go to talk about how I was feeling.”

While Chessie and Auraelia formed an “amazing team”, according to Mat, he initially found it hard to connect with his newborn daughter.

He shared: “I just felt like a bit of a spare part, like I just remember the constant housework, Auraelia wasn’t the best sleeper during the first few months or years, so we had our own challenges with that.

“I know that dads also go through a huge hormonal shift when they become parents as well.

“They have a drop in vasopressin, a drop in testosterone, an increase in cortisol, so all these things are happening too.”

Another aspect the dad struggled with was many of his friends weren’t in the same stage of life as him with kids.

In order to “cope”, he admitted to “distancing” himself during the first year, and signing up for marathons and triathlons to keep his “body busy” and his “mind quiet.”

Chessie suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum with Auraelia and would regularly be sick Credit: Instagram/@chessieking Mat confessed he initially found it hard to connect with his daughter, who is now five Credit: Instagram/@chessieking

However, things reached a turning point when he had suicidal thoughts during his run.

Mat shared: “I’m a type one diabetic, and we’d had a rough night and my sugar levels were crashing.

“I remember seeing a bench on the way back from my run.

“It was the first time I’d ever had any kind of intrusive thoughts like this, but it was the first time thinking if I wanted to I could sit on this bench and just kind of slip away now.”

The moment was a wake-up call for Mat, who decided it was time to speak to a professional – and also Chessie about how he was truly feeling.

But he is certainly not alone, with research showing around five per cent of new fathers experience thoughts of suicide during the postnatal period.

When Mat first spoke to Chessie, she admitted that it enabled them to acknowledge the strain parenting had had on their .

She shared: “I think it had built up for so long, and we had this silent drift that a lot of partners do experience after having their first baby.

“I felt my initial reaction was, wait, hold on, I’ve been through all of this, I’ve had a caesarean, I was sick all my pregnancy, I’m trying to hold up this baby and mother this baby, but I also feel like I’m mothering you.”

Speaking about their relationship on Happy Baby, Happy Mum podcast, Chessie – who has 688,000 followers on – admitted they were on the

She shared: “I remember him saying, I think it’s easier for us to leave each other, but it would be harder for us to stay together.”

However, instead of splitting up with Mathew, who she wed in 2022, she decided to fight for the relationship.

She continued: “That was my initial reaction, and then I kind of quietened that, and I was like, right, listen to him.

“He’s really, really struggling here, and I think as soon as I changed that narrative in my head, I realised that actually I could just listen and help him and support him, and get out of this deep depression that he was in.”

Therapy was a “game changer” for Mat, and through honest communication with one another, their relationship is stronger than ever.

Chessie revealed on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast that she was considering divorcing her husband at the lowest point of their relationship Credit: Instagram/@mrsgifletcher Chessie had IVF to fall pregnant with their second child Credit: Instagram/@chessieking

So much so that the pair started trying for a second baby – without fear of him slipping back into depressive thoughts.

He shared: “I feel like I’m definitely through the other side of it.

“The bond I have with my daughter now, apart from Chess, she’s my absolute favourite person in the world.”

The road to falling pregnant wasn’t easy for the couple, who suffered a miscarriage and went through IVF.

They also both used Proceive Max supplements throughout their journey, which has 33 active nutrients.

Chessie explained: “We’d had a very early miscarriage.

“We’d also tried two rounds of ovulation induction, and we felt like we had really reached our capacity, so we started IVF.”

The intense journey has strengthened their relationship, with Chessie saying it’s “closest Mat and I have been in 10 years.”

She added: “There were 158 injections to make this little one, it was incredible.”

Now, with the baby due this month, Chessie doesn’t have fears of Mat struggling again.

She explained: “We just really reignited our relationship, and I feel like we had more conversations about having a second child than we did with the first with Auraelia.

“We had to make sure that this never ever happened again, and we both were very, very sure on having a second.”

Mat added: “It’s very, very different this time around, and you know, to a certain degree, it’s made me have a look at the work that I’ve needed to do on myself for so much of my life.

“I kind of went through thinking, I’m a pretty good person, I’ve got everything lined up.

“I think parenting really shines a mirror on the work that you need to do on yourself, and I’m actually really grateful for that.”