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Hayden Panettiere: 'I suffered postpartum depression'

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Hayden Panettiere has revealed that she suffered from postnatal depression following the birth of her baby daughter Kaya. In an interview at the weekend with Us Weekly, titled 25 Things You Don't Know About Me, the actress confided: "I suffered a bit of postpartum depression. You're not alone or crazy ladies!"Hayden and her fiancé, Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, welcomed little Kaya – their first child - in December 2014. In the questionnaire, the petite star also spoke candidly about her pregnancy weight. "I was 110 pounds before pregnancy and 153 pounds by the time I gave birth!" she revealed.

hayden panettiere © Photo: Getty Images

Hayden Panettiere has revealed she suffered with postpartum depression after giving birth

Since disclosing her experience with postpartum depression, Hayden has spoken publicly about the need for new mothers to talk about their struggles."It's something a lot of women experience," the Nashville star said during an appearance on Live! With Kelly and Michael. "When (you're told) about postpartum depression you think it's 'I feel negative 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 realise how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on."It is something that needs to be talked about. Women need to know that they're not alone, and that it does heal."

hayden wladimir © Photo: Getty Images

Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko welcomed daughter Kaya in December

The 26-year-old then added: "There's a lot of misunderstanding – there's a lot of people out there that think that it's not real, that it's not true, that there'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 is really scary and women need a lot of support."Hayden admitted that she "would love to have a big family" – but isn't rushing into anything. "I always said four, but I'm not going to speak too soon," she said. "One at a time. I mean, I would love it if Wlad figured out a way to get pregnant and he could have the baby," she joked. "We would be going right now, no problem!"

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