Whitney Cummings shares postpartum depression inspired Big Baby Tour

Whitney Cummings is opening up about her journey with postpartum depression, and finding a way to turn it into creativty.

During an appearance on Today With Jenna & Friends, the 43-year-old comedian spoke candidly about welcoming her first child, son Henry, in December 2023, and how her mental health struggles after his birth even inspired the name of her current Big Baby tour.

"I named this tour in mom-brain postpartum depression, and I recall nothing why I made the decision," she joked to Jenna Bush Hager. 

"I was in a catatonic stupor and it made me laugh. No matter how big the baby is, it's huge. I was like, 'I am a big baby. Why can't I walk anymore?'"

Now, nearly two years into motherhood, Cummings says she feels like she has come through the hardest part. 

"I am excited to be here now because I feel like I am out of the woods in the postpartum depression thing," she said.

Reflecting on the confusion many women feel during that stage, she added, "Before you have a kid, you are like, 'Really? Like, is it supposed to be the happiest time of your life? Why are you depressed? Pick a lane.' When you Google it or go to doctors, they literally say, 'We don't know the cause of postpartum depression.'"

True to her comedic style, Cummings didn’t shy away from humour when describing the physical changes that come with new motherhood. 

"Could it be the fact you are going bald? Your hairline moves back two inches, your gums start bleeding when you brush your teeth? My ankles fully look like a map of the New York subway," she said with a laugh.

This isn’t the first time the stand-up star has spoken openly about her postpartum experience. 

Back in January, she told Drew Barrymore that she was in the “deep throes of postpartum depression” when she was invited to appear on the Hollywood Squares revival. 

Learning that Barrymore was part of the show convinced her to do it, a decision she says "snapped me out of it" and became a turning point in her healing. 

"I needed to see other moms, like working and having fun, and that was a big healing moment for me," she shared.

Cummings has also been vocal about having her first child at 40, joking in a past interview that her pregnancy was labeled “geriatric.” 

She said, “My favorite part so far has definitely been getting pregnant at 40 and being told it’s a geriatric pregnancy. They start calling it geriatric at 35. I had a 75-year-old man, Smithers, told me that I was geriatric.”

Still, she expressed gratitude for her timing. 

"We award women having kids later in life when they’re sane and have their lives together. I’m very grateful that I did this at 40 years old," she said, before cracking another joke. 

"If I had a kid even a year sooner, I would have sold it for Taylor Swift tickets," she quipped.

For Cummings, the experience of postpartum depression was deeply challenging, but by sharing her story with honesty and humour, she’s using her own journey to connect with others while continuing to do what she loves most, make people laugh.