- Divyanka Tripathi shared her breastfeeding challenges two months after giving birth to twins
- She highlighted pain, leaking milk, and guilt as common but unspoken breastfeeding issues
- Divyanka advised new mothers to seek expert help and not feel guilty about asking for advice
The first week of August is observed as World Breastfeeding Week, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. Amid this, Divyanka Tripathi decided to open up about her challenges with breastfeeding two months after giving birth to her sons.
The actor recently took to her YouTube vlog to share that she and her husband, actor Vivek Dahiya, were celebrating the two-month birthday of their twins, who were born on May 26. In a small segment, the actor opened up about her breastfeeding experience so far.
Divyanka Tripathi On Breastfeeding Challenges
"Why does no one talk about feeding openly?" she asked in the video, adding that a subject like this is treated as a taboo even today. The actor noted that breast milk is good for the baby and is almost an elixir, but what about the mother?
"Why does no one talk about the breastfeeding mother?" she said. "No one shared what it's like to feed a baby, not even my mother, sister or friends."
"When it's time to feed or the baby cries, your body automatically knows. You start leaking. Milk starts leaking. It can get embarrassing," Divyanka said, sharing her experience.
She suggested that a mother has to be prepared for it. Secondly, when women miss or skip feeding their babies once or twice, it can be extremely painful. The actor added that while she is happy that guests visit her and bless her sons, when she is busy hosting, she sometimes skips feeding her babies, and it gets excruciatingly painful for her.
"No one talks about the pain and guilt," she added.
Divyanka Tripathi's Advice For Young Mothers
Divyanka Tripathi said that she would have given herself some advice when she was leaving the hospital with her babies. "Breastfeeding is no exam. Latching is not a talent. It's something that both the mother and the baby learn with time. It's a learning experience for all," the actor noted.
Instead of wasting time and effort worrying, the best thing to do is speak to experts. "I learnt the process of latching. And that changed my entire breastfeeding experience," she shared.
The second advice she would give herself is to not feel guilty about taking advice. "It's okay," Divyanka said.
She added that initially she was comparing herself to the mothers around her and felt that they were supermoms. "It feels like everybody has researched so much. Everyone knows the answers to every question," the new mother said, remembering how she felt after childbirth.
But every mother has several questions, and each has a different journey. Therefore, Divyanka said that it is okay to ask for help.
The third thing that she wanted to highlight was that nobody knows how to breastfeed until they become a mother. She used to be awake throughout the night, fall asleep while feeding her babies, and wake up in horror, thinking, "What if my baby had fallen off?" She used to overthink whether her babies were latching properly and getting enough milk. The mother of twins only got the hang of it with time, and consulting experts and speaking to a community of mothers helped her through this phase.
The fourth advice she had for herself and new mothers is that it's a phase that passes with time. "You learn with time. You gain confidence, and the guilt subsides," she added.
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