Tabitha Brown on Bladder Leaks, Parenting While Vegan

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Tabitha Brown is known for many things: her roles in shows like The Chi and For the Love of Jason; her Emmy-winning work as the host for Tab Time, a popular show for preschoolers; and of course, her warm smile and personality, which have a lot to do with how popular Brown has become on social media. With 4.4 million followers on Instagram alone, Brown has attracted fans who love her playful sense of humor, her encouraging affirmations, her vegan recipes, and her determination to keep things real.

It’s that last quality that prompted Brown to open up about a health issue that’s frequently hushed up: bladder leaks. “After my last child, bladder leaks became a part of my life,” Brown tells SheKnows. “My bladder was like, ‘girl, you’re on your own some of these days.’”

Brown started experiencing bladder leaks after giving birth to her son, Quest, in 2012. As a result of the pregnancy, she developed a prolapsed bladder, which happens when the ligaments and muscles around the bladder stretch or weaken, according to the Cleveland Clinic, causing the bladder to sag. “My bladder kind of shifted down,” Brown explained. “It weakened.” A prolapsed bladder can lead to urinary incontinence, aka peeing accidentally, which is exactly what happened to Brown.

In fact, she can still remember the first time it happened. “I just sneezed and tinkled,” she says. “I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. What just happened?’ But that was the start of it.” It’s something that continues to bother the Tab Time star, especially when she has a cold or a cough. “If I get into a coughing attack where I can’t stop coughing for like a couple seconds, I’m like, ‘Oh Lord. I know I might pee on myself,’” she says.

Brown is one of many women who experience bladder leaks; according to one study, they happen to a whopping 53 percent of women in the US. And yet, despite how common they are, Brown was struck by the silence around the topic. “I thought, how many women out here don’t talk about this?” she says. From there, the decision to break the stigma herself was a simple one. “If I start talking about this, it will make other women feel better about talking about it and not feel alone.”

Brown has since teamed up with Always Discreet incontinence pads, which she’s used since switching from panty liners. “There are no leaks, no odor, anything like that,” she says. A study conducted by Always Discreet found that 88 percent of women who experience bladder leaks say it holds them back from everyday moments and activities, and Brown says the pads are a good solution. “You can wear it just in case.”

For Brown, it continues a trend of taking charge of her health. Seven years ago, Brown experienced a bout of mysterious health issues, from a chronic headache to pain, fatigue, and even vision problems. They lasted for a year and a half, Brown says, until a documentary, What the Health, inspired her to reflect on her family’s health history. “My mom died at 51 and my daddy, who had just turned 73, is the oldest man to ever live in our family,” Brown explains. “People just don’t get old in my family, and people get sick early, and the only thing I could think of is that we eat the same way.”

Brown took on a 30-day vegan challenge, just to see what happened. “I was like, ‘Well, this is something I haven’t tried,’” she recalls.

After 10 days, her headache was gone, so Brown kept going — and watched as her health continued to improve. “After six, seven weeks, I started having energy again. No more chronic fatigue,” she says. “I wasn’t suffering from anxiety and panic attacks anymore. I just started to be well.”

Since then, Brown has become a celebrated vegan influencer, sharing her tips and recipes on social media and publishing a New York Times-bestselling cookbook, Cooking From the Spirit. Of course, as a mom of two, she also had to balance her dietary needs with those of the rest of her family — all of whom initially took on the 30-day challenge with her. While Brown’s husband and son went back to eating chicken and fish, her daughter, Choyce, stayed vegan with her mom for about two years.

When Choyce decided to start eating some meat and fish again, Tabitha was supportive. “I was like, ‘Honey, that’s your business,’” she told her daughter, now 23. “Like, this is my journey.” It’s important to Brown that her kids and family make their own decisions, based on what’s best for them. “Even as a parent, you can’t force your life on someone else,” she points out. “Sometimes a journey that may save your life, you have to be willing to go on it alone.”

Still, she’ll chip in when her husband or son are craving meat. “My husband, he knows if he wants it, he’s gonna have to order the main thing,” Brown says. “I’ll cook all the sides!”

Before you go, read about these celebs working to end health stigmas: