Ref. 31012-43A LOT of women would dread entering their fourth decade but super slimmer Sam Watkins can't wait to turn 30 on Sunday.

The mother-of-one, from Lower Stratton, is one of thousands of women across Swindon who has experienced postnatal depression.

And after a traumatic couple of years, which saw her cope with the death of her best friend, battle the baby blues and pile on the pounds, she is now looking forward to the next stage of her life.

Sam, now a trim size 12, said: "My daughter Alanah is 22-months-old and I'm feeling great about motherhood.

"But it took me a long time to get through postnatal depression. It kicked in after about six months. I didn't enjoy my daughter and just functioned rather than lived.

"I thought I was a bad mum and tried to pretend everything was fine. But as soon as I got home I would just cry. I felt so alone."

The depression coincided with the death of her best friend, Claire Duncan, whom she had known all her life.

Sam said: "Claire was just 29 when she died of a brain tumour. She had been ill for a long time but it still came as a dreadful shock."

As a result of the grief and depression, Sam started to comfort eat.

"At my heaviest I weighed 12-and-a-half stone and was a size 18," she said.

"My husband Mark was an absolute angel to me during my postnatal depression. He used to keep in the background and not hassle me about my moods.

"He is a life coach, which was handy. I was one of the lucky ones to have someone so loving and supportive.

"As soon as he realised what was wrong he rushed me to the doctor who put me on anti-depressants, which I was on until last summer.

"I then took hold of my life. I joined Slimming World and started to lose weight. I now weigh 10st 6lbs and am starting my own Slimming World group."

Mark, 31, said it was like living with an alcoholic during Sam's postnatal depression.

"She became like Jekyll and Hyde," he said.

"It was horrible seeing her in this hole and offering her a ladder to get out, but she wouldn't take it. The good thing is she can look back and realise that she needed help."

This month Swindon health visitor Daphne Hardwick told the Advertiser she wanted to launch a phone service for women suffering from post-natal depression.

Daphne, who is based at who is based at Wroughton Health Centre, is in the process of applying for cash from the Lottery Fund and hopes to see the service up and running within a year.

Swindon television presenter Melinda Messenger, a mother-of-three, praised the idea after she suffered from postnatal depression.

Sam's Slimming World group starts on Wednesday June 30 at 7pm, at Goddard Park Primary School, in Park North. For information call 01793 347293.

Alex Emery