Serena Williams has said she once cried because she could not find her baby daughter’s bottle as she spoke about coping with postnatal depression following a difficult birth.
The sports star has also said that she is ready to have another child, and that she would be pregnant again if she was not back on the tennis court.
Williams welcomed daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr in September last year with husband Alexis Ohanian, and she has previously told of the life-threatening health complications that arose during the birth.
Among them, Williams was forced to undergo an emergency caesarean, and she also had surgery for blood clots in her lungs.
The tennis ace, 36, told Harper’s Bazaar UK: “Honestly, sometimes I think I still have to deal with it.
“I think people have to talk about it more because it’s almost like the fourth trimester, it’s part of the pregnancy.
“I remember one day, I couldn’t find Olympia’s bottle and I got so upset I started crying… because I wanted to be perfect for her.”
But Williams, who married Reddit co-founder Ohanian in mid-November following the birth of their daughter, said she is keen to have another child, and soon.
“If I wasn’t playing tennis, I’d be pregnant right now – sorry, I’m one of those women,” she told the magazine.
“I’ve been injured so many times, and played on it, my body is used to adjusting.”
Williams, who was one of the star guests at the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex earlier this month, returned to the tennis court for her first Grand Slam appearance this week at the French Open, and she will also be at Wimbledon this year.
Williams said that she told her husband that she hopes “it’s another girl”.
She added: “Olympia needs a little sister, and then we can have a boy. I’ve only been around girls my whole life.”
Williams also told the magazine, of which she is the cover star, that she will “never be a size 4” when referring to comments she made several years about losing weight to get down to that size.
She said: “Why would I want to do that, and be that? This is me, and this is my weapon and machine.
“But I love that I said that, because I can understand. I can show Olympia that I struggled, but now I’m happy with who I am and what I am and what I look like.
“Olympia was born and she had my arms, and instead of being sad and fearful about what people would say about her, I was just so happy.”
Harper’s Bazaar is on sale on May 31.
