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Many women suffering with postnatal depression put on a brave face and do the best they can to聽hide聽the trauma that lies within.

That's what one mother did as she continued to post to social media while suffering behind closed doors.

Emily Tredget, who is now helping others overcome the illness, spoke to Sky News as Maternal Mental Health Matters week kicked off on Monday.

The photo you are looking at shows me at a wedding holding my baby son.

To the outside world the image looks happy, but inside I was panicking. I was on sleeping pills to help me sleep, but they weren't doing anything so I was exhausted.

I remember I was constantly over-analysing everything and planning my "escape" from the celebrations should I feel bad suddenly.

The photo doesn't show what is behind the smile, that hardly a day, let alone a week, could pass without me wanting to run away.

I was in the midst of postnatal depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, which would go on to grip my life for two years.

In a short space of time I went from being a confident and ambitious woman, to a nervous new mum who tried her best not to be left alone with her baby, and got panicky at the thought of her best friend popping round for a coffee.

I had actually struggled with anxiety during pregnancy. But I didn't realise at the time that's what it was. Straight after the birth I felt so much better.

But then I started to feel bad a few weeks in, and awful when my son was about three-months-old. This got worse over the next six months.

It affected me bonding with my son. Although at the time again I didn't realise it. I had nothing else to compare it to. But looking back, it definitely did affect me. I think I only held him in hospital when I tried to breastfeed him.

It affected most things. At my worst I wouldn't do anything all day - my mum might have my son. On better days I'd try to get out and see a close friend. But I might end up cancelling or leaving early, or at best having a panic attack with them (not that most of the time they'd notice as I'd managed to cover them up a lot).

Luckily it didn't take me long to realise what was going on. The difference was so pronounced that it was hard to miss. But this isn't the case for everyone.

Even though I knew what was going on, I still felt ashamed. I felt like a failure. That I'd let my son down, my husband down, my family and friends down. Most of them were supportive, but let's be honest a number of them weren't. And that made it ten times harder.

People telling me to "pull yourself together", "everyone is tired", or "you just can't be bothered" shattered me.

That's what in hindsight actually made it worse - if I had just known how normal this feeling was and that I could get help I might have stopped beating myself up about it.

But instead I battled on for a good (or bad!) two years.

I was exhausted - not just new-mum sleep deprivation. But I-haven't-slept-more-than-an-hour-each-night-for-the-past-six-months deprivation. And the annoying thing was that my son had slept through most nights in that time. It was this crazy adrenalin and intrusive thoughts that were keeping me awake.

But I'm glad that I didn't run away - or worse - but there were times when it was close.

I was encouraged many times to take medication but for me this wasn't the route I wanted to take. In hindsight, I should have - it's often the quickest route to recovery and it can aid therapy.

But I was already struggling with feeling out of control, and taking a pill that to me was going to affect me in a way out of my control scared me more.

So I did CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and talking therapy. CBT is highly successful in most cases, but I didn't find it that great unfortunately. Other talking therapies were great. They helped me realise the bigger picture about my anxiety and depression. That it was about losing control and an identity crisis.

I started to get better, and started to talk to mum friends about my experience. I found that so many of my friends had experienced similar struggles themselves.

And that in itself made me feel a bit better. Not because they suffered too but because it showed that they understood.

I studied at Oxford University, worked as a strategy consultant at one of the big four consultancies, and then spent nearly five years in supply chain at drinks company, Innocent. I actually tried going back to work - I did a bit of consultancy, and also had a part-time job at a small start-up local to me.

But it didn't work for me. I loved the work and the people, but for some reason having to be at a set place at a set time, and feeling guilty whether I was at work or home that I should be doing the other, really set my PND off again. So in the end I left as I felt I was letting them down.

It was the best decision I made though. As soon as I felt the weight of work off my shoulders I could concentrate on getting better.

Since then I have been creating my own silver lining. I am now on a mission to ensure that no other mum should have to feel like I did. This started by speaking out about my experience.

I also found that loneliness can be a cause of PND and other mental health issues, so I am excited that my , designed as a safe place to meet mums for local playdates, is launching this summer.

This week I also launched the campaign on social media to support and encourage people to get talking about mental health during and after pregnancy.

Out of three mums, one will be struggling with a mental health issue.

Do you know which of your friends who are mums are struggling?

I bet you don't. And not because you're a bad friend, but because they are probably hiding it from you.

So let's make sure we don't let them suffer in silence.