What Is the State of Indian Mothers?


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Happy, the word that used to reign in the world before the unprecedented lockdown posed by the coronavirus. People were stressed or busy all the time but they had the opportunities to go out, eat outdoors, and go on vacations that worked as stress-busters or happiness- pills for them. 

But as the restrictions are loosening, are we all happy as we used to be? The answer is- No. Are our mother’s happy? Who cares? 

Everyone was so fraught for being locked in their homes during the lockdown but do any of us think of our mothers, Indian mothers, who under family and societal pressure have been leading the lockdown life for years, locked under their homes without complaining? Do you ever pay heed to the happiness of your mothers? The answer is no- a blunt oo. 

The homemakers of our families are often the most neglected part of our families. They are seen to be wish-fulfiller of our fathers, sister, grandparents and every other person of our family. But none of us ever come forth for her wishes, for her comfort. All that matters is our wellbeing and not hers.

The research study shows that women suffer from anxiety and depression stemming out of various reasons such as pregnancy, early-age pregnancy, early marriages, etc. Mothers with prenatal depression have symptoms of higher cortical levels and lower dopamine and serotonin levels, affecting their overall health and well-being. 

As a result, the babies they give birth to suffer from myriad ailments. The depressed mothers are not able to produce a requisite quantity of milk, making breast-feeding formidable further affecting the infant’s already weak body. Data shows that mothers who are under stress give birth to premature babies or babies of low body weight. 

This postulates that children of such mothers are at higher risk of health problems. Depression doesn’t stratify or treat rich or poor, urban or rural as different. Whoever it catches, it treats him or her in the same way. Thus, there is no reason to ponder that rural mothers suffer more than urban. 

Albeit, urban women have gynaecologists, psychologists and other specialists with them, studies have shown that they are not at any advantage over their rural counterparts. One of the major problems that Indian mothers face is that of early marriages and thus early or unplanned pregnancies. 

No matter how much advanced we are or how much business-favourable our country is, such practices have always held us behind and most of the times these go unnoticed. 

Young mothers, therefore, become highly prone to adverse pregnancy issues such as eclampsia – seizures during pregnancy, the low weight of the child at birth, early neonatal death and congenital malformation.

Data from a National Longitudinal Study of Youth (1994) adds to the surprise that one-quarter of teenage mothers have a second child within two years of their first pregnancy. This translates into stress considering the lack of proper knowledge, guidance and inadequate family support that affects women.

Young girls in the age group of 14-18 become mothers in the world’s largest democracy where the age limit for marriages of girls is 18 years of age. These girls in their adolescence, when it is difficult to take care of one, are burdened with the obligation to take care of their premature babies.

According to WHO maternal mental health prevention guide, mentally persecuted women have a high rate of maternal mortality, suicide tendency or results in infant mortality, especially in big and populous countries like India and China.

What can we do?

The first thing we can do is to disseminate information regarding mental health, as in our country the word-heath is related to only physical health. People should be made aware of the emotions of women in the society that have long been remained suppressed for the need of other persons of the society.

We must inform people about the harsh consequences of early marriages of women and early pregnancies, the mental persecution a 15-16-year-old girl suffers when she has to take care of her child, who was not at all giving birth at her willingness. Students should take a step and understand their mothers’ feelings and needs.

Mothers too are humans; they have a life to live. They are not merely our servants, all the time ready to immolate their precious time to take note of our ill-demands. We should not neglect mothers. 

Everyone has a life to live, and every life is to be lived.

Written by - Vishal

Edited by - Ivanova