Hayden Panettiere thinks going to rehab to be treated for postpartum depression made her a "better mom".
The 27-year-old actress – who has two-year-old daughter Kaya with fiancé Wladimir Klitschko – admits it took "a while" to realise she was suffering from the condition after welcoming her little girl into the world, but her ordeal has only made her a stronger person.
She said: "It takes you a while and you feel off. You don’t feel like yourself.
"Women are so resilient, and that’s the incredible thing about them. I think I’m all the stronger for it. I think I’m a better mom because of it because you never take that connection for granted."
Hayden’s ‘Nashville’ character, Juliette Barnes, also suffered from postpartum depression and the blonde beauty found playing out her story on screen helped her "identify" what her own problem was.
She told ‘Good Morning America’: "I think it helped me identify what was going on. And to let women know that it’s OK to ask for help and it’s OK to have a moment of weakness. It doesn’t make you a bad person, doesn’t make you a bad mother. It makes you a very strong, resilient woman. You’ve just got to let it make you stronger."
And the actress credits her role on the country music drama series for also helping her feel stronger and back to her best.
She said: "I’m feeling great. I’m so glad to be back playing Juliette. Everything she’s been through has been like a hazard sign in the road. She made me stronger. I feel like she’s a phoenix. She crashes and burns and then she rises from the ashes and she always takes the lesson and becomes stronger for it."
Hayden Panettiere is ‘stronger’ now
