Choreographer Bae Yun-jeong Reveals She Gained 25kg After Giving Birth and Stopped Going Outside

Choreographer Bae Yun-jeong sat down with the YouTube channel Sleepy Is Right on the 23rd and shared something she had kept close for a long time: after giving birth, she gained 25 kilograms and found herself unable to face the outside world.

"My body had gained 25kg, so I hated looking in mirrors and didn't want to take on any work that came in," she said. "Staying home all the time just created a vicious cycle. My self-esteem dropped, I felt depressed, and I couldn't even go outside to see the sky."

Bae, now 46 and widely recognized for her choreography work in Korean entertainment, described the experience as a compounding of pressures: her changed body, the demands of caring for a newborn, and the sudden pause in her professional life all feeding into each other. It is a set of circumstances familiar to many new mothers, even if it is rarely talked about this openly by someone in the public eye.

Postpartum depression typically begins two to eight weeks after delivery, though timing varies significantly from person to person. In some cases, depressive symptoms emerge during pregnancy itself. The condition is driven by a combination of hormonal shifts, sleep deprivation, the psychological weight of new parenthood, and the stress of physical recovery. When feelings of sadness, exhaustion, difficulty concentrating, or unexplained guilt persist beyond the first two weeks after birth, medical professionals recommend seeking evaluation.

Left untreated, postpartum depression can develop into chronic depression, which is why early intervention matters. Treatment usually involves counseling or psychotherapy and, when appropriate, antidepressants prescribed under medical guidance.

Family support plays a significant role in recovery. Partners and other household members sharing the caregiving load, and offering consistent emotional presence to the new mother, can meaningfully reduce both the severity and the duration of postpartum depression.

For Bae Yun-jeong, speaking about it publicly seems itself to be part of moving through it. Her honesty about a period when one of Korea's most recognizable choreographers couldn't bring herself to step outside carries weight precisely because it runs counter to the high-energy, performance-ready image her career projects.