Most women who look forward to becoming a mother are very much aware that it isn’t going to be easy. Yet, despite all its pains and problems, there is something magical about pregnancy. With each passing phase, you become all the more excited about the little life growing inside you. You’d check your app a gazillion times to reconfirm the size of your fetus. Now it’s the size of a lemon! Or is it a grapefruit? Oh great, it’s now the size of a broccoli!!! And then comes the time when you’ll be able to feel your baby move inside you. When the D-Day nears, even as the fear of the inevitable labor pains start to engulf you, you continue to look forward to the moment when you’ll get to hold your baby in your arms! No wonder then that long after this roller-coaster ride would have passed, a mother would still miss those wondrous moments. Just like Neha Dhupia did recently!
Image: nehadhupia/Instagram
Neha Dhupia had surprised the entire film fraternity of Bollywood by getting hitched with Angad Bedi on 10 May 2018. They had announced their surprise wedding when the entire Bollywood was yet to get over Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s wedding party just two days ago (8 May). Soon, Neha and Angad gave another surprising news when they announced the birth of their daughter, Mehr, in November 2018. It has been more than a year now since Neha became a mother. But since then, she cannot stop gushing about her experience of being pregnant and becoming a mom. From talking about facing flak for pregnancy weight gain to normalizing public breastfeeding, she’s done it all, and continues to inspire us. And, let’s admit, we can’t get enough of her thoughtful mind-speak as well. So much so that each time Neha comes on some public platform, we know for sure that she’ll have some interesting motherhood snippet or the other to share with us. And she didn’t disappoint us this time around too!
Image: nehadhupia/Instagram
Recently, Neha came together with Shahid Kapoor’s wife Mira Rajput for an awareness drive for pregnant women. The event was organized by the star duo to help pregnant women take care of themselves better during pregnancy and indulge in some self love. When Neha took to the stage, she spoke about her experiences during pregnancy. As we all are aware, pregnancy can be full of weird food cravings. Yet, pregnant women might become conscious of their weight gain during pregnancy and ignore such cravings. But not Neha. By her own admission at the event, Neha gave in to every food craving of hers and ate her ‘heart out’. In fact, she gave in to even those cravings that she had curbed for the last 15 years as her profession required her to look a certain way. But it was pregnancy that gave her the opportunity to satisfy every food craving of hers, making it the ‘best phase of her life’. Neha also spoke about the importance of staying fit and exercising regularly during pregnancy. She recalled how she continued to work throughout her pregnancy and was thus able to enjoy her food cravings with a little less guilt.
Image: nehadhupia/Instagram
The actress, however, mentioned that, at times, she did think about her actions and their effect on her unborn child. But then, she also realized that it was equally important for an expectant mom to be healthy both physically and mentally during pregnancy to ensure good health for her baby. Her experience was pretty much in sync with the objective of the drive that was to encourage expectant moms to eat healthy, rest adequately, and exercise regularly during their pregnancy.
While we do agree with the actress about staying fit and exercising regularly during pregnancy, we’d also like to add a word of caution to all expectant moms. If you are pregnant and wish to take up any sort of exercise, do make sure you check with your doctor. Your doctor is the best person to advice you on the type of physical activity you should take up during pregnancy. Only when you get the green signal from her should you go ahead.
