Ben helped me during baby blues, says Una

UNA Healy has revealed her rugby player husband Ben Foden got her through her postnatal depression.

The Saturdays singer, 36, has today told how the crippling disorder affected her life following the birth of the couple’s second child, Tadgh, now three.

She told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I got through my postnatal depression – thank God I did.

‘Your family are there to be with you and support you through it all – and Ben was amazing.

‘The depression is something that happens quite slowly. It is hard to describe because every individual is different.

‘You’re in this dense fog. Other people get out of it but I went thicker and thicker into the fog. But I am in a good place now, and that is all that matters.’

Postnatal depression affects 15% of new mothers in Ireland and often results in them not wanting to spend time with newborns or other members of the family or friends.

Una, from Thurles, Co. Tipperary, revealed that she was offered medication for her depression but opted for cognitive behavioural therapy instead.

She married Ben, 32, in June 2012, just months after she gave birth to her daughter, Aoife. She also has a son, Tadgh.

Aoife is now six years old. Una is now preparing to go on her first solo tour and revealed she has no plans for more children.

In 2006, she was a backing singer for Brian Kennedy in the Eurovision Song Contest for the song Every Song Is A Cry For Love, which came tenth in the competition. She was also a judge on the RTÉ talent show The Voice of Ireland.

She found international stardom as part of girlband The Saturdays with Mollie King, Frankie Bridge, Vanessa White and Rochelle Humes.

The group sold seven million records after releasing their debut album in 2008. They split in 2014.