Hayden Panettiere, who battled postpartum depression, said she felt there was 'something seriously wrong' with her after giving birth to her 8-year-old daughter

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Hayden Panettiere, who battled postpartum depression, said she felt there was 'something seriously wrong' with her after giving birth to her 8-year-old daughter
Hayden Panettiere appeared on Facebook Watch's "Red Table Talk."Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
  • Hayden Panettiere spoke to E! News about dealing with postpartum depression.
  • After giving birth to her first daughter in 2014, she thought there was something "wrong with her."
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Hayden Panettiere spoke about going through postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, and said the experience made her wish she knew more about the symptoms before becoming a mom.

Panettiere, who spoke to E! News' Erin Lim Rhodes, said before giving birth in 2014, she never knew how common postpartum depression was and didn't know what to look out for.

After giving birth and experiencing it herself, she tried to cope with the depression by turning to substances, but it made "everything worse." Panettiere has previously opened up about her struggles with alcohol and opioid addiction.

"I just thought there was something seriously wrong with me," Panettiere told E! News. "So I thought, 'Fireball will fix this. Duh.' And it didn't. It does for a moment, but then it makes everything worse."

The star later said that when she was first going through it, the experience made her feel like she should be "able to get over this all by myself." Now, she says, she's learned postpartum depression is "OK and not abnormal."

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Around 10% to 15% of new mothers will experience postpartum depression. Men can experience it as well. Common symptoms include sleeping issues, fatigue, and suicidal thoughts.

"I wish somebody told me that that was a possibility, told me it's OK if you birth your child and you're not immediately like, 'Oh my god, I love you more than anything in the entire world,'" Panettiere told E! News.

Panettiere checked into a treatment facility for her postpartum depression in 2015.

While grappling with depression and addiction, Panettiere gave up custody of her daughter Kaya in 2018, who lives in Ukraine with her father Wladimir Klitschko. In September, she opened up on an episode of "Red Table Talk." about the ordeal, which she said "wasn't fully my decision."

Prior to her giving up custody, Panettiere said that Klitschko and her previously had an agreement that Kaya went back and forth between the US and Ukraine.

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"I thought she was going over to visit him like she always did," the actor said. "And then once she was over there ... it was immediately, 'I want full custody of her,' which was a shock to me."

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Panettiere said Kaya had safely moved outside the country while her dad and uncle fight on the front lines.

Representatives for Panettiere did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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