Katharine McPhee Reveals The Biggest Challenge Of Her Pregnancy
Katharine McPhee gave birth to a beautiful baby boy with her husband of two years, David Foster, on Feb. 24. A rep for the couple confirmed the joyful news to People in a short statement, saying, "Katharine McPhee and David Foster have welcomed a healthy baby boy. Mom, Dad and son are all doing wonderfully."
Now, the 36-year-old American Idol alum is opening up about her experience and the struggles she faced while pregnant with her first child.
During an episode of Dr. Berlin's Informed Pregnancy Podcast on March 1, McPhee got candid about her "biggest challenge" during her pregnancy: relapsing with her eating disorder. "It just suddenly came up in a way that hadn't been present in a long time. I have felt really stable in my life in the last four or five years, and my weight has been sort of like more consistent," McPhee shared. "But feeling like there was a relapse after getting pregnant was really shocking and upsetting and concerning for me, because I was suddenly so obsessed with food, starting from this first trimester," the new mom added.
Katharine McPhee has been open about her eating disorder in the past
The Smash alum opened up about her battle with bulimia after appearing on the fifth season of American Idol, revealing that "low self-esteem" played a part in her years-long battle with food and body image.
"Yeah, so this little girl grows up who thinks that being beautiful is the only thing that is important," she said (via ABC News). "Because as soon as I started putting on weight, what was the most important thing? To look perfect."
Speaking to psychiatrist Keith Ablow in 2006, McPhee credited the singing competition show as the push she needed to confront her eating disorder, as her bulimia was "really getting out of control" at the time. She checked into an in-patient treatment center in Oct. 2005.
"This is what I've been doing to myself for the past three months, binging and purging and starving myself," she admitted at the time. "Toward the beginning, it was a lot of starving. It had gone on for years. It would be okay for a while, and then it would be not okay."
McPhee says she reached out to the same psychiatrist during her pregnancy
And he offered her some encouraging words and advice to help ease her anxieties about the changes her body — and mind — were going through while she was pregnant. Ablow explained to McPhee that many women who have lived with eating disorders can experience "almost a relapse, in some sense" as their bodies change.
"[And] it made me feel so much better that I wasn't alone in that headspace," she revealed. "But yeah, that was probably and has been the hardest part of pregnancy for me, was just feeling like I was relapsing in some capacity with my food issues," she added.
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).