Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 27, 2019)

During her second pregnancy and post her delivery, actor Sameera Reddy was quite vocal about her experiences. She also urged women, especially new mothers to love themselves, for the way they are.

Sameera even started a campaign, #Imperfectly Perfect, on social media and continues to build on it. Talking about it, she reveals, “My campaign comes from the fact that I felt completely disillusioned and broken after my first pregnancy when I gained weight and was 105 kg. The perfect body and the perfect face that I worked on, for my film career, broke down and I was completely lost.” She points out that she couldn’t understand why people were judging her so much.

Sameera adds, “I also realised the importance of self-acceptance and really loving yourself which is lacking in today’s day and age. Moreover, social media has made this anxiety worse. My campaign aims at combating this feeling and creating awareness that everything may look picture perfect on social media, but it isn’t necessarily true. Internal happiness matters the most.” Post the birth of her second child, daughter Nyra, Sameera’s life has been “extremely hectic”. She points out that she was “more prepared” this time as she also has a four-year-old son, Hans.

Many new mothers suffer from postpartum depression and Sameera, too, experienced it after her first pregnancy. “Back then, I didn’t even realise I was suffering post-partum. When I complained that I was emotional, moody and feeling very disconnected, I was told that they were the pregnancy blues. I kept thinking something is wrong with me. But later, when I consulted a doctor about my negative thoughts and how I was often feeling low, I was told that I had postpartum depression. As I waited too long to get a diagnosis, it took me almost a year to get out of it. Now, I want to help new mothers realise when and if they slip into it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she says.