Actor Hayden Panettiere has entered a treatment centre for help with postpartum depression.
Nashville star Hayden Panettiere, 26, has entered a treatment centre for help with postpartum depression.
“[Hayden] is voluntarily seeking professional help at a treatment center as she is currently battling postpartum depression,” her rep said in a statement. “She asks that the media respect her privacy during this time.”
Hayden and her fiancé, boxer Wladimir Klitschko, have a 10-month-old baby girl, Kaya Evodokia. Hayden's been vocal about her struggle with postpartum depression, and the need for women to talk about it, since Kaya's birth in December 2014.
“It’s something a lot of women experience," she said on Live! with Kelly and Michael, referring to her Nashville character Juliette Barnes' severe battle with postpartum depression. "When [they] 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.”
Read more: 12 celebrities who have struggled with postpartum depression>
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding," she added. "There are a lot of people out there that think it’s not real, that it’s not true, that it’s something that’s made up in their minds, that ‘Oh, it’s hormones.’ They brush it off. It’s something that’s completely uncontrollable. It’s really painful and it’s really scary, and women need a lot of support.”
Like many moms struggling with postpartum depression, Hayden has continued to put on a "brave face" on social media. She took to Twitter just days ago to say, "Feeling like I'm #finally coming back in to my own body! mother #daughter #blessing #wellworthit."
Feeling like I'm #finally coming back in to my own body!mother #daughter #blessing #wellworthit @bonesthenskin pic.twitter.com/ZwUDyo4MhF — hayden panettiere (@haydenpanettier) October 10, 2015
I put "brave face" in quotes up there because posting a photo on social media is just as brave as simply getting up in the morning when you're struggling with something so powerful. I personally never had postpartum depression, but I had an extreme case of prenatal anxiety. I know how forcefully the wheels can turn in your mind, even as you're going about your day—how you can wave cheerily to a colleague while walking down the hall, as the floor is opening up beneath you.
We wish Hayden and her family the best.
Love... xo Haley-O Celebrity Candy: Follow along as Haley Overland delivers the latest scoop on celebrity families—plus sweet celeb interviews! You can’t have too much of this candy, so check back often.
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Haley Overland is a writer/editor at Today's Parent. Our resident celebrity queen, she dishes out all the sweetest scoop on celebrity families at our Celebrity Candy blog. She has interviewed celeb moms like Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba and Jillian Michaels, and has shared her expertise on CTV’s ETalk. Haley also has an award-winning personal blog, CheatyMonkey.com, where she writes about everything from motherhood to yoga, her dog “Betty White” and what it's like to be Clive Owen's girlfriend. Haley has two kids, whom she fondly refers to online as “The Monkey” and “The Rascal.”