Dr. Nicole Martin Opens Up About Postpartum Anxiety as She Reveals She’s ‘Bouncing Back’ From ‘Real Housewives of Miami’ (Exclusive)

It has been a difficult month for The Real Housewives of Miami star Dr. Nicole Martin, but leave it to the doctor to prescribe the best medicine for healing.

In a candid interview with PEOPLE, the board-certified anesthesiologist and mother of two reveals she experienced severe postpartum anxiety after the birth of her 5-month-old daughter Genevieve — so often she he found himself in trouble. a constant feeling of dread from which he struggles to escape.

“This is more than just worrying about a new mom,” says Martin, who shares Genevieve and 5-year-old son Grayson with her boyfriend, Anthony Lopez. anxiety and fear that appear randomly and worsen.”

Although she has been improving over the past few weeks, the condition has put Martin in “harder postpartum training” than she expected.

“I love being a mother,” says Martin. “But I’d be lying if I said I was dealing with it.” [anxiety] it was easy.”

Never miss a story – subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date with the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to news which are interesting to people.

It has gotten so bad that the reality star, after careful consideration, has finally chosen to “come back” from full-time work. The Real Housewives of MiamiThe upcoming seventh season.

“I don’t think I’m primed to do a full-time TV movie,” the 40-year-old explains. “I love most of the girls I film with, but we have strong characters and there can be difficult scenes, not to mention long hours. .

“That is not the best for me at this time. I need to put myself and my family first now.”

PEOPLE can confirm that Martin, who joined the RHOM when it was renewed back in season 4, it was given a full-time contract for season 7.

The show was filmed this week, with Alexia Nepola, Larsa Pippen, Lisa Hochstein, Julia Lemigova, Guerdy Abraira, Marysol Patton, Adriana de Moura and Kiki Barth all filming.

Martin misses the action, but it will never disappear RHOM. He says he still makes occasional appearances, and has maintained friendships with many of his customers.

He says: “It is not that we will say goodbye forever, I will appear here and there, not fully.” “I just need to focus on other things now.”

Postpartum anxiety is common in women after giving birth, affecting up to 20% of mothers. According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms of postpartum anxiety manifest themselves in physical, emotional and behavioral ways.

Often, symptoms include an increased heart rate, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness. racing thoughts, irrational fears, irritability, inability to relax, isolation and hypervigilance in non-threatening situations.

This condition can be caused by several factors such as hormonal changes, lack of sleep and stress around mothers such as difficult childbirth or breastfeeding problems.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Martin did not speculate on what caused the situation, but he did say that his pregnancy with Genevieve was very different from his pregnancy with Grayson.

“Genevieve blessed us with her presence on March 23rd, five weeks earlier than expected,” Martin says. “I had to have an emergency c-section, and he was in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] about two weeks. So this pregnancy was not like my first pregnancy, where everything was going well.”

In order to help him in his time of need, Martin relies on the people close to him in his life. “I’m very blessed to have an amazing support system. Anthony is great, I have amazing friends and my mom is my rock – she helps me with the kids,” Martin says. “So I couldn’t do it without them.”

She is also taking steps to treat her anxiety, maintain regular therapy, spend time with her children and focus on her overall mental health.

Among the other changes Martin made was the decision to stop breastfeeding.

“I breastfed for about a year with Grayson, but I felt like it was contributing to so much stress and so much anxiety that I stopped a few weeks ago,” says Martin. more than I expected. “I wanted to get back to my normal hormonal level.”

He adds: “So far, I have felt the difference. “It has helped me to be more present with Anthony and the children. I feel more like myself.”

Although Martin was finally convinced of his choice to rest RHOMtells PEOPLE he worries about letting down the audience, who he insists have been “wonderful” over the years.

“They’ve been incredibly supportive and invested in my story, and part of me feels really guilty about going back and not being able to fully share that with them,” says Martin. “A while back, we bought this house that we’ve been renovating, and I know the viewers wanted to see that. I know they wanted to see the new baby… And I realize, even, that my story of postpartum anxiety can help many women, because it is often something that is not talked about or written off.

The Miami native pauses. “But they, even though it was difficult to decide, I felt that I could not be the best person for them, or my children or my family,” he says of the audience, after a moment of introspection. “So I had no other choice, really. I have to focus on my life.”

He adds: “I hope they will understand.”

Past tenses of The Real Housewives of Miami may be published on Peacock.