John Legend speaks out about Chrissy Teigen's postpartum depression and how he helped to support her

Model recently revealed her condition in an open letter

John Legend has praised his wife Chrissy Teigan after she spoke out about postnatal depression (Getty)

John Legend has revealed how he helped his wife, the model Chrissy Teigen, through postpartum depression, after she revealed she had been battling the condition since the birth of their daughter Luna.

Speaking to People, the La La Land star said that he did "whatever he could".

"(As a man) you don't know internally what it feels like... You need to be present and you need to be compassionate," he said.

"And we're all learning and trying to figure it out as we go."

The 38-year-old also praised his wife for being open about the condition, saying: "I think it was powerful for her to let a lot of women know they're not alone, and no matter how much money you have or fame, anybody can feel that."

Teigen wrote about the condition in an open letter to US Glamour, where she said that there had been periods where she couldn't leave the house, where she shut herself away in the dark and barely moved "from the exact same spot" after becoming a mother in April 2016.

"I have a great life," she wrote. "I have all the help I could need: John, my mother (who lives with us), a nanny...

"But postpartum does not discriminate. I couldn't control it. And that's part of the reason it took me so long to speak up: I felt selfish, icky, and weird saying aloud that I'm struggling. Sometimes I still do."

High profile women have been speaking out about their struggle with postnatal depression with increasing frequency in order to raise awareness.

Adele has said that she suffered from the condition after the birth of her son in 2012, while Nashville star Hayden Panettiere was treated twice after she gave birth to her daughter in 2014.