No Gifts And Cards, 5 Changes Indian Moms Want To See In The Country This Mother's Day

As the world marks International Mother's Day, it is customary to thank our mothers with flowers, chocolates, greeting cards, take them out for a dinner or a message of thanksgiving on social media for the years of selfless service they did in bringing you up and help you reach where you are today.?

But, beyond that, has anyone asked what they want as an individual or as a member of the society??

So, on this Mother's Day, we looked up for some of the demands put forward by Indian moms for changes they want to see in the society.

1. Paternity leaves to be made mandatory

Even today, paternity leaves are a divisive subject. While a lot of companies to provide them, many still don't, forcing many new moms to take a tough choice between taking care of their newborn and their career.

More often than not, it is the career of the working woman that is sacrificed. One solution for this is to make paternity leaves mandatory in all organisations. to improve gender equality in the workforce.

Thorough her change.org campaign, Aarti Shyamsunder from Mumbai has been campaigning to make organisations maternity leaves mandatory which she says will improve their gender diversity at work.?

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2. Paternity Leave for Adoptive parents?

While a lot of companies still do provide paternity leaves for new parents, this is not the same in the case of couples who adopt a child. While the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 prescribes a leave of 12 weeks for adoptive mothers many say it is not adequate or is not being provided at all.

Unlike biological parents, adoptive parents who adopt a child from an orphanage has many numbers of challenges. One of the first challenges is to get the child accustomed to the new home and people.

The higher the age is, the more difficult it becomes to get the child to recognize its adoptive parents as guardians. According to Deepika Ahuja from Bengaluru, one way to make the process easier is to provide parental leave. Through her campaign, Deepika is asking the Minister for Labour and Employment to provide equal parental leaves to adoptive parents, which is up to 36 weeks.

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2. Postpartum Depression should be recognised

Being a mother is said to the greatest joy a woman can experience in her life. But what the society often fails to recognise is what goes through the mind of a new mother. Beyond all the celebrations and happiness, many new moms are left in a state of mental and physical trauma.

This could be the result of a number of things like anxiety, insomnia, loss of appetite, intense irritability and difficulty bonding with the baby. It is called postpartum depression and has been categorized as 'very common' and something that needs medical attention.

While it can be cured with treatment like counseling, antidepressants or hormone therapy, if it is untreated, it could last for longer and could result in developing major depression later on in life. Darshana, a new mother from Mumbai who has gone through post-partum depression is campaigning to make the Maharashtra government to launch a helpline for new mothers battling depression.

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3. Hospitals must take consent before feeding newborns formula milk

Breastfeeding vs formula milk has for long a contentious subject. Though many still prefer to feed their newborn mother's milk, in some cases like delivery-related medical complications, formula milk is fed even breastfeeding the child for the first time.

Since breastfeeding has been proven to establish the bondage between the mother and the newborn, mothers still prefer doing it. Jincy Varghese in her campaign is asking hospitals to take consent before feeding formula milk to newborns.

In her petition, Jincy argues that feeding formula milk to babies is a medical intervention and it should only be done in case of a medical condition that inhibits the mother or the baby from breastfeeding. And if there actually is a medical condition, then consent should be taken, just like in that case of any other medical procedure. In my case, there was no need for formula feeding at all.

There are risks associated with feeding formula milk to babies which should be clearly mentioned in the consent form.

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4. Hospitals should declare the number of Caesarean births?

Recent studies show that Caesarean surgeries lead to a higher risk of postpartum depression and lower breastfeeding rate in women and diseases like obesity and diabetes in children.

Subarna, a mother from Mumbai is leading a campaign on Caesarean Section surgeries in India and safe-birth. She wants the government to make it mandatory for all hospitals to declare the number of Caesarean deliveries through her #SafeBirth campaign.

5. Child-friendly rooms in courts?

It is unfortunate to see young children getting dragged into courts. But it does happen a lot of times, especially in divorce and custody battles.

It is in one such case Richa, a single mom who is fighting for the custody of her daughter noticed how poor the Children Complex Room at Tis Hazari Family Court is. According to her, the room was small, compact, suffocating and gives an unfamiliar ground for the children to spend that quality time with the parents.

There are another 10-12 children in the room, along with the custodial and non-custodial parents and grandparents, who are often seen yelling and accusing each other in front of the children.

A lady is seated at the centre of the room, merely observing the chaos of the unfriendly and stuffy room.” She wants the Children Complex Room in courts to be more child-friendly.?

Hope that mothers get to see what they want.