How This New Mother Is Redefining The Breastfeeding Journey

I am a 37-year-old Ivy League graduate from Columbia Business School, New York, Executive Director at Sagar Chandramma Hospitals now and Founder of Thea, a breast pumping innovation for new mothers. When I am not spending time with my adorable one-year-old son, I am out to build organizations that enrich and empower women’s lives.

My entrepreneurial spirit and vision are not limited to the healthcare sector. Recently, I launched a company that is driven by the idea of making the lives of new mothers easy and comfortable. The first innovation is a wearable electric breast pump that is compact, tubeless, and sits concealed inside the bra, giving mothers the freedom to go about their day while pumping.

In today’s rapidly changing world, where entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly popular, women are at the forefront of driving change and making a positive difference.

Recent years have witnessed the Indian business landscape take a significant shift, with more and more women stepping up on the entrepreneurial mantle and making a mark.

Women entrepreneurs are not only bringing creativity, sincere commitment, and empathy to the table, but they are also creating a positive social impact with a strong business acumen that makes them a combination for becoming the future creators of the country.

The idea for my venture was conceptualised in a dark isolated feeding room and I felt I wanted to be anywhere but there. Frustrated with having to sit behind closed doors every time I had to use a traditional breast pump, I started on a journey to find a solution that would allow every mother to pump out in the open, without feeling and being awkward.

Breastfeeding and innovation

Before it, using a breast pump at work meant spending hours plugged into a wall with a traditional ">breast pump, unable to do anything but that - and the whole process was rather dehumanising. It meant spending more time in isolated feeding rooms instead of making decisions in the board room. It brought about a simple question: why should mothers have to choose between caring for their babies & being able to thrive at work, or anywhere else?

Thus Théa was born. I am proud to say that it is helping to bridge the gender inequality gap prevalent in the corporate world – no longer do women have to fear the dreaded ‘maternity leave disadvantage’. Now, a new mother has the option of returning to work and taking care of her baby at the same time.

With our pump, I am putting an end to the misinformation, inconvenience, and awkwardness associated with using a breast pump. Traditional/Conventional breast pumps in the market are bulky and come with drawbacks – they have long tubes, wires and bottles that hang outside awkwardly from the body of the user – forcing the mothers to pump behind closed doors.

This is where Théa changes everything, providing a discreet and comfortable option for new mothers who want to pump without feeling self-conscious or uncomfortable. With this simple innovation, it is enabling new moms to ‘have it all’ at work and home. No longer do mothers have to choose between wanting to breastfeed their children or choosing to go back to work – now they can do both.

My vision is to overcome challenges to spark innovation in an entrepreneurial journey and inspire other women to excel.

Tintisha Hemachandra Sagar is the Executive Director at Sagar Chandramma Hospitals and the Founder of Thea. Views expressed by the author are their own.

Suggested Reading: Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy: Mothers Explain Pressure They Feel To Stop