Like a lot of new moms, Angela James had a baby that wouldn’t sleep, that had trouble latching on during breastfeeding.
Guilt set in. Sleep deprived herself, she says she felt like a failure. When the panic attacks started, she feared being alone with little Hattie, whom she named for two great-grandmothers.
After reaching out for help, Angela had a name for her sadness: postpartum depression.
To soothe both herself and Hattie, the Chicago singer-songwriter began to hum. The result is a sweet collection of lullabies, “Quiet Night,” that she says helped heal her and she hopes inspires other moms with PPD.
As Angela James says she has found since her diagnosis, too many women still suffer in silence, whether because of shame, guilt or feeling like a failure against the Instagram-perfect motherhoods filling our feeds.
“I thought I was OK but I was not OK,” she told us recently.
All of the musicians and artists that contributed to Quiet Night are also parents of young children. The album features voice, classical guitar, bass clarinet, bassoon and vibraphone.
Find more info about the album, released April 12, at angelajamesmusic.com. A CD release party is planned for April 20.
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