“You’re not alone or crazy, ladies.”
Nashville actress Hayden Panettiere, 26, has opened up about her postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in December of last year.
Speaking to Us Weekly, Panettiere, who is engaged to 39-year-old professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko, used the platform to send a message of support to others who may also be suffering.
“I suffered a bit of postpartum depression,” she admitted.
“You’re not alone or crazy, ladies!”
Panettiere and Klitschko, who have been together on-and-off for six years, welcomed their first child last year and she described motherhood as an out of body experience.
“It’s the most out-of-body experience, where you go, ‘I will completely lay myself on the line for my child’. Without even a hesitation,” she told Good Morning America earlier this year.
Postpartum depression is not rare, nor does it discriminate. Ten per cent of mothers will suffer from some form of depression after they give birth, and Panettiere is the latest in a line of celebrities to speak out about it.
From Brooke Shields, who wrote a book on her postpartum depression, to Britney Spears and Courteney Cox, the conversation about the condition is advancing.
Even Gwyneth Paltrow opened up about the illness on her website, Goop, saying she was affected by it for five months.
“When my son, Moses, came into the world in 2006, I expected to have another period of euphoria following his birth, much the way I had when my daughter was born two years earlier,” she wrote on Goop.
“Instead I was confronted with one of the darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters of my life.”
If you or someone you know is suffering, you can contact the Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA) helpline on 1300 726 306 or by clicking here.
Click through the gallery below for more photos of Hayden Panettiere.
