世界母乳喂养周,演员Neha Dhupiataken the initiative to launch a campaign that gives women the freedom to breastfeed without being apologetic about it. Breastfeeding is a word which is surrounded by many stigmas. Women hesitate to feed their babies in public because of the side-eyes they get. And if the baby is crying and craving for breast milk, we have seen women being embarrassed and apologetic that their baby is making a fuss. It makes you wonder that even in this day and age where we like to believe that we are living in a progressed society and have come a long way from where we were a decade back, women still feel the need to be apologetic when it comes to feeding their baby.
Neha Dhupia tied the knot with her boyfriend Angad Bedi in May last year. They had a surprise wedding ceremony that was kept hush-hush until the last minute. The duo welcomed their baby girl on 8th November 2018. The couple who celebrated one year of marital bliss in May this year has also embraced parenthood for over 8 months now.
Freedom To Feed
The actor shared a video on her social media account with the hashtag #freedomtofeed. The video begins with a board that showcases the birth date of her daughter Mehr Dhupia Bedi. It shows glimpses of the actor kissing, cuddling, and holding her baby. We can then see Neha putting her daughter to sleep. In the video, she talks about how this roller coaster ride of being a mother began 8 months ago. She talks about how motherhood hasn’t been an easy journey and how it’s all part of the package. From holding the baby’s head the right way when feeding her, or knowing when your little one is done feeding, and becoming the ultimate burping expert, she says that a mother’s brain works on autopilot. The actor also reveals about experiencing the blues of motherhood and at times feeling like a mere food source. But it’s all part of the package, she says.
Here is the video which was shared by Neha Dhupia on her social media account:
The actor who is also a former Miss India admits that the most challenging part of motherhood was exclusively breastfeeding her daughter for 6 months and says she continues to do so even now. She further adds that breastfeeding made her realize the importance of having a support system and sometimes the lack of it as well. She shares one such instance when she was traveling with her daughter on a flight. Her daughter began crying and the motherly instinct kicked in which made her realize that her daughter needs to be fed. She then stood up in the cabin and told everyone that she is going to use the washroom for the next quarter of an hour. She told the passengers that if anybody wants to go in before that, they can. The actor says that everybody knew what was going on. She remembers taking her daughter and looking up, hoping that the seat belt sign wouldn’t come on before she finishes feeding her daughter. She states that she doesn’t understand the consciousness behind it and the need to be apologetic about breastfeeding. The actor feels the there should be more noise around the subject and has also invited other moms to share their stories about feeding their little one.
Hopefully, the initiative taken by the actor on the onset of World Breastfeeding Week will encourage more women to share their stories about breastfeeding. With mothers sharing their stories and experiences about feeding their little one, let’s hope that slowly but surely breastfeeding in public will no longer remain a taboo.
