Courtney Stubbs and Jack Millar share raw details of their pregnancy journey for Perinatal Mental Health Week

Reality TV couple Jack Millar and Courtney Stubbs are set to welcome their first child in the coming days – but the journey to this point hasn’t been easy, with the expecting mum opening up her mental health challenges.

Reality TV couple Jack Millar and Courtney Stubbs are set to welcome their first child together next week – but their pregnancy journey hasn’t been easy, with the expecting mum opening up her mental health challenges.

Jack, who was a groom on Married At First Sight, and Courtney, a contestant on Love Island had been together for eight months when she fell pregnant.

The couple admits that while they were elated – the news was accompanied by shock and some serious nerves.

Courtney was feeling “off” when she did three pregnancy tests at home – all of which returned positive results – and asked Jack to come home from work.

“When you get a message from your partner saying they need you to come home now – I had no idea what was going on,” Jack said.

Jack Millar and Courtney Stubbs a few days out from the birth of their daughter. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“There was excitement among the nerves, I have always wanted to be a dad but I just took a step back and just wanted to make sure Courtney was okay.”

The pair went to the doctor to confirm what the tests had told them – and when they received the news she was in fact pregnant, Courtney took comfort in a phone call with her mum.

“I have very strict, traditional parents,” Courtney said. “But mum was over the moon and that was a really reassuring moment for me.”

But as her first trimester progressed, Courtney began to struggle both mentally and physically, admitting it took her a long time to come to terms with the fact she was pregnant.

Known as adjustment disorder, she struggled mentally with the changes in her body, as well as feelings of loneliness, having only recently moved away from family on the Gold Coast when she fell pregnant.

She initially felt guilty vocalising her discomfort and mental health, while Jack felt helpless as he watched his partner struggle.

“I couldn’t assist or make her feel better …. That was the hardest pill to swallow for me,” he said.

Jack Millar was a groom on Married At First Sight. Picture: Richard Dobson

Courtney Stubbs was a contestant on Love Island.

Through the midwife program at the Royal Women’s Hospital, the couple were introduced to the Gidget Foundation, and discovered new tools to help them adjust before the arrival of their baby girl.

“It was my midwife and Jack who encouraged me to get help,” Courtney said.

“When you do feel alone you often want to sit alone and deal with it but knowing this is the experience of so many other women really helped.”

It was the first time Jack had been given the tools and resources on how to support Courtney – finding information for expecting dads was hard to come by.

“From my perspective there was minimal information out there,” he said.

“I learnt to accept that I can’t fix (how she is feeling), what I need to do is just be there to hold her hand, listen and help her through it.”

Just days away from her due date, Courtney has opened up about her struggles for Perinatal Mental Health Week in the hope that other women won’t feel the same stigma and guilt she did in the early stages of her pregnancy.

New data from Gidget reveals 51 per cent of mums and dads found parenting much more challenging than expected – a number that didn’t surprise Courtney and Jack, but concerned them.

“I was so disheartened (in the early stages) because everyone on social media puts up how perfect and magical their whole pregnancy is and mine’s been so difficult,” Courtney said.

“I knew that if I was feeling this way, there’d be others that do too. I just wanted to be honest.”

Jack Millar and Courtney Stubbs at their Vaucluse home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Gidget CEO Arabella Gibson urged expecting mums and dads to share conversations about their mental health with anyone from friends, family to midwives, noting that adjustment disorder is often “underestimated”.

“The importance of perinatal mental health is something we need to be constantly talking about to ensure we’re reaching new generations of parents,” she said.

“Knowing that half of Australian parents aren’t having open conversations with their loved ones – especially when they’re struggling – is really concerning.”

With their baby girl due to arrive next week, the reality TV couple are both excited and nervous about their future. With Courtney’s family on the Gold Coast and Jack’s in Wollongong, the new dad will be taking additional time off work to support his partner, while a revolving door of family will be visiting their Eastern Suburbs home to help with the newborn stage.

“The importance of having both parents in your life in those early stages is actually very, very crucial in the development of a baby,” Jack said.

“We are very much into the idea of building a village. Having that community around you gives both (mums) and partners the support they need through this which I think is pretty amazing.”

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