SI have long distanced myself from the world of cinema, but in recent days the name of Hayden Panettiere came back into the limelight due to a strong revelation, which no one was aware of: the actress said she risked her life when she became a mother. It all happened during the cesarean section with which she gave birth to her daughter Kayahad 11 years ago by the former boxing champion Vladimir Klitschko. “I thought I was one step away from death,” the actress told AND! News on the occasion of the launch of the memoir book This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which it is told in the round, from the beginnings as a child prodigy to addictions, up to postpartum depression.
Hayden Panettiere: «I risked dying in childbirth»
«During the caesarean section I knew I was knocking on death’s door», revealed the actress, «It was the most “maternal” moment of my life. I said: “God, please let me hear my daughter cry. I just want to know that he’s okay, and if it’s my time, then that’s okay”». During the caesarean section, Hayden Panettiere had a haemorrhage which forced the doctors to give her seven blood transfusions, but during the interview she underlined that she had no fear, her only thought was for her daughter.
From depression to addictions
After that difficult moment, the actress suffered from postpartum depression. «I had this beautiful, healthy little girl and a very fortunate life, and yet there was no way I could be happy. I was so depressed and couldn’t find a way out of the darkness,” her words to CBS Morning. Panettiere also had problems alcohol addiction. In 2020, the beginning of an eight-month treatment journey, in which he also experienced the effects of withdrawal.
Hayden Panettiere said she risked her life when her daughter was born. (Getty Images)
“As my nervous system tried to regulate itself without the depressant effects of alcohol, it went haywire and my whole body shook,” he writes in the book. «I couldn’t sleep and my head was pounding as if it were pressing against my skull.”. Difficulties caused by depression and a toxic romantic relationship (with ex-partner Brian Hickerson). Despite the difficulties, therapy changed her life. “After two weeks I started to feel calm.” And again: «I liked myself. What a revelation.”
The relationship with his daughter Kaya, who lives in Ukraine
The distance from his daughter, who has lived in Ukraine with her father for years, also exacerbates the difficulties. Today the relationship with her exists, but it wasn’t always like this. “I’m so lucky to have such a beautiful relationship with her,” Panettiere told CBS Morning, «I go to see her as often as possible. We talk on video calls all the time. Now he is 11 years old and calls mom more and more often».
Hayden Panettiere gave sole custody of the little girl to her ex in 2018, during the darkest period of her life. Knowing she’s far away isn’t easy, but today she thinks it’s the best thing: «When I finally recovered, I thought that It would have been unfair and selfish of me to try to tear her away from the life she had created for herselfto the life he had lived, an incredible life.”
