A lot of women wrote to me and said that we had nearly given up you know because we’ve
gone through this whole ordeal and such a difficult phase in our life and I said don’t give up,
don’t do that you still can conceive, you can still the fact that you are being pregnant that's a
good sign that you can conceive but for whatever reasons you know miscarriages happen
that's not the end of the world and I was very positive during
mine after two miscarriages I was still very positive.
With not much of studies that are done on pregnant women because for obvious reasons you
can't really do so many studies on pregnant women with the vaccine, I chose not to take it
So, a guy obviously the best thing he can do is just maybe it's not like they need some you
know we need someone to talk to, maybe it’s just that hug, you know maybe it’s just being
there and listening ,maybe sometimes just be quiet
So, I am very happy with the fact that bhajji is very hands-on and he loves kids, he
absolutely dotes on children so for me yeah, it's great to see
him with that bond I think especially with his daughter
You know postpartum depression of what you're
talking about was something which is very common in the UK because people speak about it
Hi Geeta, welcome to Pinkvilla.
Thank you, great to be here.
It's great to have you here with us today. Geeta and you know before we start talking about
other things, I want to congratulate you once again for becoming a mother for the second
time you know Jovan was born in July if I’m not mistaken
Yes, I have three family members who are July born in fact I
have about seven family members who are born in July so July is a very busy month for me.
Seven, that's a lot.
I do, I have two sisters-in-law, I have a nephew, I have husband, I have two kids.
How has this time been of course you have become you know you have been a mother before
to Hinaya so I’m this I’m not sure how new the process
would be but I’m sure it's interesting right?
It is. It's different because when Hinaya was born it was just about her so all the focus
attention was on one child now as a parent you have to adjust and manage both kids so you
have to balance the attention and the focus and your time,
your energy on two kids so it's definitely a lot harder but it’s great fun.
In any way pregnancy is a very difficult time in the sense one has to be very careful and with
pandemic around it must you must have had to take a lot
more precautions than usual, how was that time for you?
Yeah there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear of not able to step out because you're looking
after yourself, your child inside, your daughter not being able to be vaccinated so you have to
be extra conscious and the fact that you know it was at its peak at that time so we really
couldn't step out, physical activity was very, very bare minimum. During Hinaya's pregnancy I
was extremely active so I did a lot of classes I did acqua natal classes, I did prenatal yoga
although I did that during this pregnancy as well but it was more outdoors, it was with other
people, the whole atmosphere was different there was not so much of this anxiety and this
whole fear and you know your mind was much more at ease this time with this whole thing it
was definitely a very different experience and I didn't step out, I didn't meet any friend, I didn't
meet anyone during ever since lockdown had anyway started, a pandemic had started so it was
the two years where it was definitely difficult but easy at the same time in the sense that I was
relaxed at home, I was in the comfort of my own home.
Speaking about vaccines what's your take on vaccines you know I heard some you know,
read some articles, heard some theories where some people suggest that pregnant women
should take vaccines, some say they shouldn't take vaccines.
And of course, it's a personal choice but what's your opinion on that?
Yeah, so that's it like there's so many different things that are coming out of information that
confuses oneself that should we/ should we not you know and I feel at when I was pregnant I
didn't want to take the vaccine and although it was advised that I’d have any way not to, the
government, the central board everyone had suggested my gynaec suggested that you know you
don't take the vaccine because no it was advised at that time that we should not take it now I
think maybe it's changed maybe you know it's allowed to be given to pregnant women and
lactating women but personally I wasn't going anywhere I was at home and I felt with not
much of studies that are done on pregnant women because for obvious reasons you can't
really do so many studies on pregnant women with the vaccine I chose not to take it
protecting my child and not knowing what their implications would be so I, like you said it's
to each to their own but I think maybe you know take the right advice from your
gynaec he would know best I was advised at that time not to
but if the doctor suggests that you should then obviously you should.
Sure, have you taken your vaccines now?
I will be now because you know he was just
born so now that I will be traveling in the near future so I will be definitely taking the vaccine now.
Geeta, you recently very bravely spoke about miscarriages you know you said that you had
two miscarriages, correct me if I’m wrong one was in 2019 and one was in 2020. Now firstly
but you know it really needs courage to speak out about this in a public space. For all those
women out there you know who are dealing with the same situation, what would you like to
suggest to them because you really stood up and you know you kept yourself gathered and
you fought it really well how would what suggestion would you like to give to others?
Yeah well I spoke about it because I realised how common it is and there's a lot of friends of
mine who have gone through it and there's a lot of women who are going through it and the
best platform to talk about it is obviously your social media, social platforms and it really I
was overwhelmed with the response I got and I realised how important it is to talk about
these things because it is common it's a very traumatic time for a girl and a woman to go
through because it's a part of you and it's your it's I can say that the moment you know you're
pregnant, I know for a fact a lot of women probably 99 percent of women you start planning
for the future, the nine months so what's going to happen, how are you going to go about it,
what you know this beautiful bundle of joy that's going to come into your arms and when that
moment happens where it's the worst moment of your life that you lose that little life inside
you it definitely takes a toll on you and definitely is a very hard thing to go through and
especially if you don't have the support around you it's even harder so I wanted to talk about
it because after Jovan was born I realised a lot of women who come to me and they said
they're not able to conceive you know, they're asking questions what should I do and I realised
that you know something like this where maybe being a celebrity they feel that our life is so
easy and that you know you just see the end result that the journey that we've got this
beautiful baby in our arms but the whole journey towards that how hard it is even for us to
conceive sometimes, the more we talk about it can give other women hope and that's what
happened when I spoke about it so many women had contacted me, wrote to me and said
thank you so much for giving us this hope because I didn't want women to give up. I didn't
want women to lose that hope that it will not happen, even after two miscarriages it still can
happen and it will happen you have to have that belief, you have to have that positive mindset
and believe that it will happen you know yes, it's the worst time and your hormones are all
over the place, your emotions especially during this pandemic where you can’t really go out,
you can't meet anyone, you’re confined in your space and you know and things can get tough
but I realised that no. I have to talk about this because as a celebrity, as someone who can
who has a voice I wanted to reach out to women who are going through this time during this
difficult time and let them share their thoughts and their emotions and I can maybe help
someone out there you know and bring that hope into their life.
A lot of women wrote to me and said that we had nearly given up you know because we've
gone through this whole ordeal and such a difficult phase in our life and I said don’t give up
don’t do that, you still can conceive you can still the fact that you are being pregnant that's a
good sign that you’re you can conceive but for whatever reasons you know miscarriages
happen that's not the end of the world and I was very positive during mine after two
miscarriages I was still very positive.
But you know in such times the family becomes the biggest support and that's someone you
rely on, you really want that support from them how, what
role did Harnhajan play during this time for you?
So that's the thing like I feel like a woman's connect and a woman's attachment to the baby
starts from a much earlier state than what maybe a guy will go through, a father will go
through because it’s happening inside our body right? We are the ones to feel it, we are the ones
to get, your body's changing, your hormones are changing, everything starts kicking
in. So a guy obviously, the best thing he can do is just maybe it's not like they need some
you know we need someone to talk to, maybe it’s just that hug, you know maybe it’s just being
there and listening, maybe sometimes just be quiet just put just zip your lips and just listen to
what she has to say, just let her cry, let her vent and just hug her you know just be that
companion, that support and give her that hope, give her that positivity around you know don’t
give her the negativity maybe you know some men may blame their women or whatever you
know, maybe giving them discouragement or saying it's okay let's leave it you know don't
yeah give them that support, give them the moral support, give them the compassion, the
empathy, everything that a woman requires at that time that's all you can do.
A guy maybe will not understand as emotionally as what a woman will go through at that time.
But bhajji was that supportful.
He was amazing, yes. He was very supportive and the fact that he looked after Hinaya as well
and he's very hands-on father in fact so it's great to have that helping hand around the house
and being very, very hands-on with the kids I think it's very important for a father because
see we are the ones who go through it nine months, we are the one who carry the kids and that
different bonding we have with the child is very different to our fathers so the father’s role
actually starts the moment the child is born and that's when we require them to bond with the
child as well because it's as much as theirs as obviously as much as they are ours.
So, I am very happy with the fact that bhajji is very hands-on and he loves kids, he
absolutely dotes children so for me it's great to see him with that bond I think especially with
his daughter I think a father and daughter have a different connection.
Lovely I would also like to take this opportunity to talk about postpartum, Geeta which I
don't think is a very talked about subject and is a very important phase again for a woman and
correct me if I’m wrong about postpartum is a phase after giving birth to a child you know
where a woman goes to multiple mood swings as well has a lot of hormonal changes
as well did you also go through a similar phase and have to deal with?
So thankfully I haven't but I know very, very closely of people who have and it is very
difficult for women who go through such a thing and it is very, very common as well you
know maybe not spoken about like you said but it definitely should be something that women
speak more openly about because women we have so many hormonal changes in our life like
every month we have a menstrual cycle, our hormones are going up and down, then we have
kids, after kids everything you know in our life I think through then you have menopause so
it's literally like a whole life journey of your hormones going up and down, your emotions,
your body changes, your mood swings and I feel like guys don't go through that and I feel
you, they don't understand this change so I think it's more important for guys to also talk to
professionals to understand what women go through and to be there with them through that
you know because the only person that's going to be so closely to a woman at that time is the
husband, the spouse right? Because you know after birth, it's the husband the father who's going
to be there and they're the ones who are going to really see that side of the woman so
I feel that really a woman needs to be very, very strong it needs to it's okay to let yourself vent
I feel that's important don't keep it inside, don't keep your emotions inside talk to
someone, talk to your mother, talk to a professional, talk to anyone who can help you during
that time because especially with a baby it's very overwhelming postpartum it's very
overwhelming when you firstly go through it for the first time it's a whole new world when
you're pregnant again your hormones are all over the place, when you deliver your hormones
all over the place right and I think that when you have the baby, the only thing that we can
have is the support around to help us through that, to help a woman go through to make it as
easy as possible someone is not in your control you don't know these feelings that are
happening inside, you don't know why you're going through it, you don't know what's
going on you know so many things come into play at that time but what can one do? What can
you do is be positive, meditate, pray, talk, let out your emotions it's okay to you know feel what
you're feeling and cry and go through all that. You know postpartum depression of what you're
talking about was something which is very common in the UK because people speak about it.
We were aware of this when I was in the UK and Hinaya was born there a lot of mid wives
used to come to me every week after she was born to help us mothers speak about whatever
we're feeling and that’s when I realised how amazing the therapy there is like they actually
come to you every week to make sure that the father is able to handle whatever she's going
through this whole new journey so every week the midwives would ask me are you okay? Is
there anything you want to talk about? Anything that's bothering you and I realised that wow
you know it’s so supportive here they actually help you during this journey and that's
something that should also be inculcated here as well that you know you have someone who's
in touch with you regularly to make sure that the woman’s being able to handle this whole
new journey of motherhood and kind of make themselves stronger, make them realise you
know maybe before in generations before they probably went through it but they didn't
realise what it was because generations before they didn't even understand, they don’t
even know what postpartum depression is
They would be like, its okay. It is what it is. She is always crying. What is her problem?
You know a lot of family members would probably say that you know because
mothers themselves wouldn't even realise what they're going through but these things in the
western culture, in the western world is very, very common it's very spoken about and I feel
that because it's so vocal we realise what these things are yeah now this whole thing is new,
people are realising okay this could be it and I think this is why it's so important to talk about
it and having these mediums to talk about things like this so
women realise that yeah, there is something such as postpartum depression.
Absolutely, absolutely and thank you for speaking so vocally about it. More power to you.
Thank you so much Geeta, this was a lovely conversation.
Thank you.