EXCLUSIVE: Hayden Panettiere Opening Up on Postpartum Depression Battle 'Helped Other Women Feel Less Alone'
Hayden Panettiere died at 36.
Aug. 20 2026, Updated 2:40 p.m. ET
Hayden Panettiere suffered from postpartum depression, but her bravery in opening up about her private battle helped other women "feel less alone," according to an insider.
Days after the Heroes actress' tragic death, RadarOnline.com revisits her struggles with her mental health and the fallout after she told the world about her experiences.
Hayden Panettiere Revealed Postpartum Depression on TV
Hayden Panettiere struggled with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter.
Panettiere and her ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko welcomed their daughter, Kaya, in December 2014. During a 2015 appearance on Live With Kelly and Michael, she admitted that she was deeply depressed after giving birth.
"It's something a lot of women experience. 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," she explained.
"Some women do," she added. "But you don't realize how broad 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."
Hayden Panettiere Was 'Helping Other Women Feel Less Alone'
Hayden Panettiere opened up on her postpartum depression battle on 'Live with Kelly and Michael.'
In her recently released memoir, she also confessed that she didn't immediately connect with her daughter.
"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 penned at the time.
For the former child star, it got to the point where she chose to enter treatment to get help.
"In the past, women, particularly in Hollywood, could never admit to battling any kind of depression," an industry inside shared with Radar back in 2015. "But now stars like Hayden are opening up about postpartum depression, and helping other women feel less alone by talking about their own fight to get healthy again."
Hayden Panettiere Gave Up Custody of Her Daughter
Hayden Panettiere gave full custody of her daughter to Wladimir Klitschko.
Panettiere and Klitschko reportedly broke up in August 2018. That same year, she decided to give up full custody of their child to the former boxer.
"I remember every second of that day. Every f---ing second," she said of signing the paperwork that relinquished her rights. "No mother could forget a single thing about the day she signed her child away."
Hayden Panettiere Claimed She Lost Gig Over Postpartum Confession
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Hayden Panettiere reportedly lost Neutrogena deal over her confession.
However, things got even more heartbreaking for Panettiere after her confession. During a May 11 appearance on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, she claimed that she lost her deal as the face of Neutrogena over her public remarks.
"Of all the things that they would fire me over, this was the last thing that I thought they would ever fire me over," she shared at the time. "I had no intention or plan to talk about postpartum depression. It just came up, and I was just being honest. And never for a second did I think that anyone, or care that anyone, would have a bad reaction to it. It was my truth."
