MOST women expect to be overcome with joy at the birth of their babies - but for some, hopes are dashed as they enter a downward spiral into a dark depression.

On Monday, celebrity mums like Fern Britton and Brooke Shields will talk openly on prime time TV about their battle with post-natal depression.

Their stories will ring true with hundreds of thousands of fellow sufferers. It is estimated that about one-in-ten new mums experience the despair of post-natal illness, often suffering in silence.

Louise Ibbotson, of York, thought the tears and tiredness she felt after the birth of baby Ellie were nothing more than 'baby blues'.

After a traumatic birth with complications leading to an emergency caesarean, she expected to feel weepy, but assumed it would pass.

"I felt fearful, irritable, I was really tired but I couldn't sleep and I generally felt out of sorts with the world," she said.

"You expect to feel like that for the first few days of having a baby and people say it will go away but it just didn't.

"I felt very isolated as I was living in London away from my family and friends and I didn't have a lot of contact with people who knew me before I had Ellie so nobody knew I was acting differently to how I was before and couldn't tell me to sort it out.

"I also gave up work and I think that contributed.

"You wait for that time when life goes back to normal - I suppose it's almost a grieving process for the life you had before. You don't really expect your life to change that much and it took time for it to click inside my head."

Louise and her husband, Jerry, moved back to York when Ellie was a year old and Louise finally sought help from her doctor.

She talked through her symptoms for the first time and started a course of antidepressants.

"It all started to make sense that was what had been going on," she said.

"I had antidepressants for about a year and they balanced everything out. Before, everything was very high or very low; there was nothing really in between."

Ellie is now a happy, healthy six-year-old and Louise has another daughter, Lottie, aged two.

She didn't experience post-natal depression after Lottie's birth.

"I think there were moments when I felt like I should be back on the antidepressants but they passed," she said. "I would recognise the symptoms now."

Actress Brooke Shields battled with post-natal depression after her daughter Rowan was born. On Desperate Mums: Tonight With Trevor McDonald, she tells Fern Britton, who experienced the illness after the birth of her twins, Harry and Jack, of the pain she felt.

"I was miserable and I was crying much more than my baby was crying which didn't seem right," said Brooke.

"But, I think the most frightening thing that happened to me was that my baby would cry and I could not bring myself to feel any type of connection to her."

York GP David Geddes said most new mums would experience baby blues and 'general upset' for a few days after having a baby.

Post-natal depression, he said, could vary from anxiety about your baby and parenting skills to in extreme cases, quite severe psychiatric symptoms.

Symptoms could include anxiety, loss of appetite, feeling on edge, apprehension, palpitations, disturbed sleep, poor motivation, irritability, worry and feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness.

Vulnerable mums might have experienced psychiatric illness, had a traumatic pregnancy or birth or live far away from their families.

"Lots of women see the glamorous view of motherhood with celebrities, but the reality is that giving birth is a very stressful event and many women have their illusion shattered," he said.

"It's very important to recognise and share your concerns. Lots of people worry if they tell people their problems then they will think they're not functioning well as a parent and people will start watching them.

"Friends and family might notice a change in the mum - one symptom might be a lack of enjoyment. Enjoyment of your baby's first few weeks or months can be severely affected by post-natal depression and it's a crucial time because baby is growing up so quickly that you miss out on one of those perks of being a parent. Most of that is because you're in an isolated state and very frightened."

Dr Geddes said health visitors and GPs could offer support to mums suffering from post-natal depression and put them in touch with others who had experienced it.

He said: "The most important thing is support. Everyone's going to experience difficulty at some stage but if you feel as though you're not coping at any stage throughout your pregnancy or after your baby is born talk to your health visitor or your GP. Don't be afraid because there will be someone to help you.

Desperate Mums: Tonight With Trevor McDonald will be shown on Monday on ITV at 8pm.

If you are experiencing post-natal depression contact the Association for Postnatal Illness on 020 7386 0868, email Meet-A-Mum Association (MAMA) at meet_a_mum.assoc@btinternet.com, or phone the National Childbirth Trust enquiry line on 0870 444 8707.

Updated: 09:12 Friday, June 03, 2005