The Mamahood Project: Chennai's first ever project to empower mothers

Ahead of the event, two speakers – parent educator Prerna Kalra and Dr Jaishree Gajaraj – talk about the need for such projects and the topics they are going to discuss.

Says Prerna, “We need to empower parents with powerful conversations and I think such events help to achieve it to an extent. I am going to talk on how to handle a toddler’s behaviour in a positive way. It’s all okay when everything is going well with parents and kids. But as soon as the child throws tantrums, parents start worrying whether they are parenting the right way or not. Somehow, a child’s good behaviour is treated as a sign of good parenting.” 

Explaining further, she adds, “Parents should understand that managing an emotion is an integral part of every human being and it’s the same with the toddler. Don’t consider tantrum as a misbehaviour. There are critical clues provided by science, which will help parents get a perspective of what’s happening with the child and what support can be provided at this stage of development.”

Another speaker Dr Jaishree Gajaraj, who practices obstetrics and gynecology, reasons out the need for more such events for mothers. “Being a gynaecologist, I don’t find enough time to spend with my patients in the hospital. I think similar programmes help mothers and mother-to-be discuss various topics under one roof. 

Even if one person raises a question, many others are going to benefit from it. New generation parents-to-be hardly take matters like pregnancy and parenting seriously. But, you cannot take certain matters in a lighter vein,” Dr Jaishree suggests.

Talking about her topic of discussion, the doctor shares, “I will be discussing ways to avoid postpartum depression. It can have a significant effect on bonding with the baby and making it difficult to get through each day. Mostly, postpartum depression is visible only in a very subtle form but in varying degrees. 

If there is a great family support, it goes off very easily within a few days. But in certain cases, it will last longer leading to various other issues. And we have to be very careful with those cases.”