Serena Williams on postpartum depression: ‘I wanted to be perfect’

Tennis champion Serena Williams is opening up about the difficulties of being a new mother.

In her cover story for the July issue of Harper's Bazaar UK, Williams talked about her struggle with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Alexis Olympia, who is now 8 months old.

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"Honestly, sometimes I still think I have to deal with it," Williams said. "I think people need 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."

Excited to be on the cover of the July Issue of @bazaaruk which celebrates the power of women! Out tomm! #BeingSerena hair @angelameadowssalon makeup @natashagrossmakeupartist

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on May 30, 2018 at 4:43am PDT

The 23-time Grand Slam champion, 36, gave birth to her daughter via emergency cesarean section. Shortly after, Williams also suffered from a pulmonary embolism, she told Vogue magazine in January.

Williams said that through it all, she believes she has been a good mother to her baby girl.

“I hope I am, and I’m going to strive to be the best mom I can be,” Williams said.