Panettiere was diagnosed with postpartum depression when Kaya was 4 months old
Panettiere received her postpartum depression diagnosis four months after giving birth to Kaya.
The first time she talked about her postpartum struggles was during her September 2015 appearance on “Live! with Kelly and Michael.”
“It’s something a lot of women experience,” she said at the time. “When [you’re told] about postpartum depression, you think it’s ‘I feel negative feelings towards my child, I want to injure or hurt my child’ — I’ve never, ever had those feelings. Some women do.
“But you don’t realize how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on. It’s something that needs to be talked about. Women need to know that they’re not alone, and that it does heal.”
The following month, Panettiere announced she was seeking help at a treatment facility, forcing her to briefly step away from her role on “Nashville.”
In her memoir, Panettiere explained how her postpartum depression affected her ability to bond with Kaya.
“I’d always heard that mothers feel an instant rush of love the moment they lay their eyes on their baby, but I felt nothing,” she wrote.
The “Bring It On: All or Nothing” star turned to alcohol to cope with her struggles.
“I needed a drink to function—at 6:00 a.m.—and that was f—ed. If I didn’t get some help as soon as possible, I was f—ed,” she said in her book.
In her E! News interview, Panettiere said she thought alcohol would “fix” her postpartum depression, but it only “made everything worse.”
