From Debina Bonnerjee to Rubina Dilaik; celeb moms talk about post partum depression, hair fall and challenges in their motherhood journey

In the recent times, several celeb moms have been openly expressing the challenges they have faced or facing in their motherhood journey. Right from postpartum depression to hair fall to difficulty in breastfeeding, these celeb moms have been breaking all the taboos and myths and making all the women in the journey that it is ok if at times things are not ok. Here take a look at all these powerful women embracing and inspiring all women by sharing their motherhood vulnerabilities.

Initially, the first six months till the time that I was feeding, I had lustrous hair. My hormones were fine and the moment I stopped lactating, I think all the hormones dip. Yes, they dip. There was this stress that oh my god, I'm not lactating anymore. But I was so, I felt so devastated. I used to feel that this beautiful moment of lactating is coming to an end. All the good hormones suddenly dive into your nose and you start getting hair fall and you know the skin becomes dry. My doctor told me that hair fall happens in patches. I took a shower, shampooed myself and when I saw my hair falling off, I got scared myself. I felt like am I bald?

I had three huge lumps here. Such huge lumps like rock. I got scared. I thought, is it cancer? Is it lymph node? I was petrified and scared. I called the doctor at night. He told me to try and massage. The doctor said, ‘when milk accumulates in your milk ducts, it creates lumps. Lumps need to be massaged. It's very important otherwise they have to be removed surgically’. I got a massage after crying a lot. It's important to get a massage otherwise milk duct and milk won't be able to flow. I have twins. I have to latch one first. I have to teach them how to latch the nipple. I am crying. I was dreading it. But yes, initially, it went on for a week. After that, I got a little better at it. They also understood the latch a little. I did all this by massaging. After that, before every feed, massaging, a little warming, then massaging and warming. Because your milk also hardens and then you have to cut it out. So rather just massage.

The first one-and-a-half-month was hard. I was having a breakdown almost every day. But now we are settled in our routine and doing well now. I wanted to have a normal delivery and I was in labour for 6/7 hours. But we had to do an emergency C-section eventually. And for the painful part, it's not easy being a mom!"

That is something that I feel that nobody told me that it’s just baby blues. It's called postpartum depression and it is something which is a chemical reaction which is happening in your brain. It's not your fault, it's not your family's fault. Even the smallest thing you know your husband could have said ‘Shut up’ to somebody on the road and you say why are you talking to them like that and you get so angry or you see that your baby is crying little extra and you're not able to help her to settle down and you start crying because you feel like I'm such a horrible mother or I'm this. It's just something that's happening in your brain. It's the chemical reactions. It's your body adjusting to the hormones, but it does happen. Postpartum depression is a real actual thing. Every single woman will go through it in some level. For some people, it may last a week. For some people, it could last even up to two years. It does happen and in case it's not going away, then go and talk to a doctor about it because it's a real thing. You're not gone mad.

Having two school-going kids and baby no. 3 on the way, Dimpy had sleepless nights and spoke about the challenges she faced. She shared, “When you go from 1 to 2nd baby, you divide the time accordingly and you get very comfortable. When you have a third person, the newborn takes all of your time. I am breastfeeding and suddenly it’s like all your time is being taken up by the baby and the other 2 babies are suddenly wondering ‘where did mamma go?’ The sleep deprivation takes a toll on your memory. That sometimes get to me. At times, I have completely forgotten that I have to cook a meal. There’s food for the kids, but I had to cook for myself and I would forget.”

I get so paranoid when people talk about weight loss after pregnancy. Of course, everyone wants to lose weight, and so do I, but not at the cost of compromising on my health or not eating what’s required for my child’s growth. A new mother shouldn’t be made to believe that losing weight is more important than enjoying motherhood. I would rather promote the idea of being healthy. My child is my priority and weight loss can happen anytime.

One of the first actresses to talk about mother’s guilt, Ekta Kaul had stated, “So I have shot in worst conditions! Extreme monsoons, extreme cold, 50 degrees heat. In sickness.. With a saline, with injections and with a plaster but nothing has affected me ever. I was always a hard nut. But I lost it today. Haven’t felt this guilty and this emotionally drained in years. Ved is back home safe with my mother and well taken care of. He’s on solids, also I am pumping and trying to give him best nourishment but the fact that he’s away from me for a long time is killing me every second. Hats off to all the mothers who manage both work and the child. I hope I fulfil both the responsibilities properly. And none is affected. Not my child and not my work!”

One thing in particular that I want to talk about is postpartum depression. Most women go through it. I used to cry for hours not knowing what happened. I would feel terrible. But when my family saw me, they were like, no, you need to step out, take a break, even if it's just 10 minutes, a drive or a cup of tea outside, outside the house, please go. So this is something that happened with me. Postpartum depression really hit me very bad and I got out of it because of the support of family and husband. So my husband and family have supported me a lot.”