Hayden Panettiere was painfully honest about her postpartum struggles

"Kaya was just there, and now I had to figure out how to bond with her," the late star shared her struggles

Hayden Panettiere was candid about the devastating postpartum depression she experienced after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in 2014, openly discussing the difficulties she faced as she struggled to connect with her newborn.

Panettiere, who died on August 16 at the age of 36, welcomed Kaya with her former fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko. In an excerpt from her 2026 memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, she recalled feeling almost no emotional connection when she first met her daughter.

"I had always heard that mothers feel an instant rush of love the moment they lay their eyes on their baby, but I felt nothing," Panettiere wrote. "Kaya was just there, and now I had to figure out how to bond with her. It felt like an insurmountable task, and I was only on the first day."

Panettiere later received a diagnosis of postpartum depression. During a May 2026 appearance on the Jay Shetty Podcast, she explained that she was constantly experiencing stress and anxiety and felt miserable and frequently found herself in tears.

She had first spoken publicly about her postpartum depression in 2015, when she appeared on Live with Kelly and Michael. At the time, she stressed that the condition needed to be discussed openly so women would know they were not alone.

"It's something that's completely uncontrollable, and it's really painful, and it's really scary," she said during the interview.

Panettiere later revealed that speaking publicly about her postpartum depression had professional consequences. She said Neutrogena dropped her as a spokesperson after she discussed her experience, though she continued using her platform to encourage women to seek help.

Her postpartum depression also became intertwined with struggles involving alcohol and prescription medication. Panettiere sought treatment several times, and in 2016 she publicly announced that she was receiving help for the condition. Her addiction and mental health struggles would continue to affect different parts of her life in the years that followed.

Panettiere was also open about the painful decision to allow Klitschko to have primary custody of Kaya in 2018 while she focused on her recovery. In her memoir and later interviews, she described the separation from her daughter as deeply painful but said she believed it was necessary at the time.

In the months before her death, Panettiere continued speaking publicly about her experiences while promoting This Is Me: A Reckoning. During a May book event in Los Angeles, she said she hoped Kaya would one day understand that none of what happened was her fault.

Panettiere's openness about postpartum depression became an important part of her public advocacy, particularly because she was willing to discuss feelings that many new mothers may find difficult to acknowledge. Her experiences also became part of the story she wanted to leave behind through her memoir, which explored addiction, motherhood, mental health and the difficult periods of her life.