Being pregnant, especially in our culture, means taking ample precautions during those 9 months with heaps of unsolicited advice. The day that pregnancy stick shows two blue lines, you know your life has changed for good. Often our happiness takes a back seat when we start facing a volley of well-intentioned advice, from everyone who crosses paths with us. Frankly, all this pressure to take it easy, and playing it safe, makes pregnancy such a boring time. Every time you want to step out of the house, people around you make a big fuss about it and working women have it the hardest.
If every time a woman, who was advised to sit at home after getting pregnant, actually took the advice, the women-kind would disappear from offices, schools, local-trains, streets and even vegetable markets, faster than you could say the ‘first trimester’.
However, women around the world are now changing their attitude towards pregnancy. They are trying to break age-old notions and making it look so cool!
Women from all walks of life are debunking the myths around pregnancy.
Athletes
Earlier this year Serena Williams won The Australian Open title while she was pregnant with her first child with Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian. This was her 23rd Grand slam title.
In 2011, athlete Amber Miller participated in a 26.2-mile marathon, full term. Halfway through the race, she started experiencing contractions. But instead of quitting the race midway, she chose to walk to the finish line. Just a few hours later, she gave birth to a daughter.
Similarly, in 2014, Alysia Montano, competed in the quarterfinals of 800 meters in the U.S. Track and Field Championships, while being eight and a half months pregnant.
The British royal and equestrian Zara Phillips participated in a polo match in 2013, bearing her first child.
Actors
Just last year, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan was lauded by everyone for working throughout her pregnancy. She said she even reprimanded the media for treating her pregnancy as some sort of national causality.
A pregnant Lisa Haydon made an appearance on the cover of Elle, flaunting a bikini and a bump. The model-turned- actor followed in the footsteps of Kareena Kapoor Khan to make pregnancy look trendy.
In 2016 Indian model Carol Gracias walked the ramp showing off a baby bump in an effort to break gender stereotypes in the country.
The star of this year's biggest Hollywood grosser 'Wonder Woman', Gal Gadot was pregnant while shooting the action-packed film. When some of the CGI shots had to be re-shot, the five months pregnant actor did not bat an eyelid.
Oscar award-winning actor Halle Berry was pregnant during the filming of the action film X-Men: The Days of Future Past.
Politicians
Member of the U.S. Congress, Cathy McMorris Rodgers gave birth to two children while she held her seat in the office.
Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Jane Swift, became the nation's first-ever pregnant governor after her election to the office in 2002
The commoners
You don't have to be a pop star or a world-class athlete to prove that pregnancy does is not a handicap.
Women can take care of themselves and rock the world despite bearing a tiny life inside them. Pregnant women who chose to travel alone, or do simple things like taking care of their medical appointments, or even buying grocery without an aid, are all trying to debunk the myths that surround pregnancy.
Pregnancy should not stop you from multitasking or do things on your own. Instead, you should make the little being inside your body a part of your aspirations. Both of you should share these experiences.
We leave you with a few chuckles that pregnant women are sharing with each other on social media.
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Dr Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are author’s own.
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