Meghan McCain Opens Up About Her Struggles After Her Daughter's Birth

When Meghan McCain gave birth to daughter Liberty Sage McCain Domenech on September 28, 2020 (via ABC News), the former co-host of "The View" was filled with joy, and naturally, she shared her joy with the world.

"Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful well wishes and overwhelming kindness. Ben and I are completely and utterly in love with our daughter and feeling indescribably blessed/blissed out," McCain tweeted as she got ready to introduce her baby girl to the world of presidential politics. "We will be watching her first debate as a family together tonight!"

However, all was not as joyful behind closed doors and McCain is finally opening up about what she went through in the months after little Liberty was born — something one in 10 American women a year go through after giving birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meghan McCain may no longer have a national daily platform to talk about the things that are most important to her since choosing to leave her co-hosting duties at "The View" in the summer of 2021, but she is also no longer shy about discussing the painful postpartum depression she experienced after Liberty Sage was born.

"It's the second hardest thing I've ever done, other than my dad [Senator John McCain] dying," McCain told People, explaining that she addresses the issue in her new audio book, "Bad Republican," so other women can relate and feel more normal if it happens or has happened to them.

"I felt like people need to share stories about struggles with new motherhood — not just it being picture-perfect," she said. "But I feel really raw and vulnerable sharing it. I just wanted to offer something that would hopefully make women, in particular, feel less alone."

At the time she was going through her postpartum depression, Meghan McCain admitted she was paranoid that something horrible would happen to her baby and especially fearful that she would be kidnapped. "I wanted [my husband] Ben to hire armed guards outside our house," she told People. She also was afraid to take Liberty for a simple walk around the block.

Granted, McCain's pregnancy was not an easy one. She went through it during the first year of the pandemic, chose not to do virtual birthing classes, and then ended up with postpartum preeclampsia, which meant needing to stay in the hospital longer for her blood pressure to regulate (via People).

Thankfully, an astute pediatrician who saw what was happening gave McCain some advice. "She pulled me aside and was like, 'You need to talk to someone,'" McCain told People. She didn't listen to the doctor at first, but when she went back, she was surprised when she was told her feelings had a name — postpartum depression. That's when she got the help she needed to enjoy parenthood the way any new mother should.