Hayden Panettiere began her journey into motherhood with a traumatic experience.

The Nashville star faced life-threatening complications during the birth of her daughter Kaya, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko, in 2014.

“As I was undergoing the C-section, I felt like I was on the brink of death,” Hayden shared in an exclusive interview with E! News regarding her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, set to release on May 19. “In that moment, I had a profound motherly instinct and prayed, ‘God, please let me hear my daughter cry. I just want to know she is okay, and if it’s my time to go, I’m at peace with that.'”

Although Hayden survived after receiving seven blood transfusions and battling an infection, this near-fatal experience solidified her readiness for motherhood. At 36 years old, she expressed her willingness to sacrifice everything for Kaya’s safety.

Hayden remarked, “I felt no fear whatsoever.”