Breaking the Silence around Motherhood: Annantaa Hosted Awareness Session on Maternal Mental Health

Breaking the Silence around Motherhood: Annantaa Hosted Awareness Session on Maternal Mental Health

Kolkata, 15th May, 2026:Annantaa took a significant step towards breaking the silence around maternal mental health by hosting an intensive awareness session that brought together renowned voices to discuss the emotional and psychological realities of motherhood. Organised in observance of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 — whose global theme this year was “A Decade of Voices”, marking ten years of worldwide advocacy and awareness around maternal mental well-being — the session focused on the growing mental health concerns affecting women during pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and different stages of parenting. The discussion shed light on rising cases of prenatal stress, postpartum depression, anxiety disorders, emotional burnout, and the urgent need for stronger emotional support systems, while encouraging open conversations, early intervention, and greater sensitivity towards maternal mental healthcare.
Addressing the growing psychological challenges associated with pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and motherhood, Dr.Basab Mukherjee, eminent gynaecologist and obstetrician, and Dr.IndraniLodh, Founder Director of Urvaraa Group of Women’s Clinics, highlighted the emotional burden silently carried by millions of women and stressed the need for early intervention, accessible counselling, stronger emotional support systems, and more empathetic healthcare approaches towards maternal mental well-being.
The session gained deeper relevance amid growing global concern around maternal mental health and the increasing number of women silently battling emotional and psychological challenges during and after pregnancy. Recent international health reports and maternal wellness studies from 2025 and 2026 revealed that nearly 1 in 5 women globally experienced a maternal mental health disorder during pregnancy or within the first year after childbirth. With around 140 million births recorded worldwide every year, nearly 28 million women reportedly suffered from perinatal mental health conditions annually. Studies further showed that while nearly 10% of pregnant women globally experienced depression or anxiety disorders, the number rose to almost 15.6% in developing countries, with postpartum mental health conditions affecting nearly 13% of new mothers worldwide and touching 19.8% in developing nations. The experts also highlighted the serious treatment gap surrounding maternal mental healthcare, noting that nearly 75% to 85% of affected women never received proper diagnosis or treatment, often due to stigma, lack of awareness, social pressure, and limited access to mental healthcare services. The discussion further reflected on Indian studies which showed that perinatal depression in the country ranged between 14% and 45%, driven by factors such as financial stress, urban lifestyle pressures, family expectations, and emotional isolation, all of which continued to significantly affect mothers’ mental well-being.
Speaking on the session, MadhuriSarda, Counselling Psychologist, Clinical Hypnotherapist, and Founder of Annantaa said, “Mothers are often expected to stay emotionally strong through every phase of pregnancy and parenthood, but very few people truly acknowledge the silent mental and emotional battles many women go through during this journey. Maternal mental health deserves the same attention, care, and empathy as physical health, because a mother’s emotional well-being directly shapes both her life and her child’s growth.”
Highlighting the importance of emotional support for mothers, Vidhi Bansal, Co-Founder and Psychotherapist at Annantaa – Power of the Mind, said, “Conversations around motherhood often focus only on physical care, while emotional struggles continue to be overlooked or dismissed. It is important for families, workplaces, and society to create safe spaces where mothers feel heard, supported, and comfortable seeking professional help without fear of judgement.”
The experts emphasised that maternal mental health extended far beyond postpartum depression and included anxiety disorders, trauma-related stress, emotional exhaustion, and severe conditions like postpartum psychosis. The discussion also highlighted how sleep deprivation, relationship stress, career pressure, and societal expectations continued to silently affect mothers, while stressing the need for stronger emotional support systems, family understanding, and wider acceptance of professional mental healthcare.
With maternal mental health continuing to remain one of the most under-discussed healthcare concerns globally, the initiative by Annantaa served as a strong call for greater awareness, empathy, and action around the emotional realities of motherhood. By bringing together experts, conversations, and real concerns under one platform, the session not only highlighted the urgent need to normalise mental healthcare for mothers but also reinforced the message that emotional well-being must become an essential part of maternal care, support, and public health conversations.

Ruby General Hospital and Ruby Cancer Centre has been providing quality multi-speciality clinical care for the last 32 years.

Ruby General Hospital and Ruby Cancer Centre has been providing quality multi-speciality clinical care for the last 32 years.

Ruby Cancer Centre has been the first in Eastern India to launch the most advanced Radiation Therapy Machines, both in 2014 (Clinac iX with FFF Technology) and 2024 (Varian TrueBeam 3.0). Ruby Cancer Centre is also the only hospital to have the Digital PET CT in Kolkata.
A major advancement in regenerative medicine and hemato-oncology was achieved today with the inauguration of a highly advanced, world class Stem Cell and Cellular Therapy Transplantation Unit, commonly known as a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Unit by Dr. Sourav Dutta, Director and Mrs Ruby Dutta in presence of Founder Chairman, Dr Kamal K Dutta. This new facility is designed to meet international standards of care, and is equipped to handle comprehensive, lifesaving treatments for children and adults aiming to address the rising burden of complex blood disorders.

Key features include :

• 6 Specialized Isolation Rooms, equipped with dedicated High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration facility through advanced individualised HVAC systems, to minimize infection risks.
• Touch free hermetically sealed automatic doors.
• Touch sensor enabled plumbing fittings in all washrooms.
• Fully RO and UV treated water facilities.
• Provision for dialysis and all advanced critical care support systems and gadgets within the unit.
• Integrated modern Stem Cell Apheresis Room with capacity for storage of Stem Cell products inside the Unit.
• Provision of In-house Blood irradiation and advanced Blood Centre facilities.
• Ante Rooms for family members to stay along with paediatric patients.

Comprehensive Care Spectrum: The center will handle both Autologous and Allogeneic transplants (including matched sibling, unrelated, and haploidentical transplants).
Advanced Cellular Therapies: The facility is designed to support modern practices like CAR–T Cell therapy and specialized stem cell treatments.
Dedicated Specialized Team: The unit is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of specially trained and experienced oncologists, hematologists, nurses, and technicians with a complete back-up of the multi-speciality clinical team of Ruby General Hospital.
A Transformative Step for Patient Care: This unit offers new hope for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia, and sickle cell diseases, who previously had limited access to such advanced care. The inclusion of dedicated apheresis facilities and a standalone self-sufficient unit ensures a holistic treatment experience.
“This state-of-the-art facility will provide life-saving treatment to patients, offering them a second chance at life,” said Dr. Kamal Kumar Dutta, Chairman and Managing Director Ruby General Hospital.
During the Press Meet quite a few facts and misnomers had been highlighted by Prof. Dr. Tuphan Kanti Dolai (Senior Haematologist and Bone Marrow Transplant Specialist) in the presence of the first Bone Marrow Transplant patient of Ruby General Hospital, done in 2024. Apart from the above, Ms. Srijani Sahu, a Thalassaemia patient who did extremely well in her Higher Secondary Exams and aspires to be a Psychologist, had been felicitated by Mrs. Ruby Dutta. Ruby Cancer Care & Research Foundation announced to support her financially for the coming three years in her academic endeavours.

Another extremely important highlight of the event is a very special case of Dr. Oindrila Biswas (MS, MCh, Surgical Oncologist with excellent surgical outcome) about a young man from Tripura diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, which required bone tumor excision and reconstruction, a very complex surgery.
Previuosly, the plan of treatment would have been amputation, but, now with proper and meticulously planned surgeries, limb salvage and reconstruction can be done with customised mega prosthesis, which was done for this 17 year old IIT aspirant, Mr. Sauptik Bhattacharjee, who was discharged last week and was present today to share his experience.

কলকাতা ডার্বির আগে কিংফিশার স্ট্রং পাওয়ার সোডা কলকাতার দুই চিরপ্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী ইস্ট বেঙ্গল এফসি এবং মোহনবাগান সুপার জায়ান্টকে এক মঞ্চে নিয়ে এল

কলকাতা ডার্বির আগে কিংফিশার স্ট্রং পাওয়ার সোডা কলকাতার দুই চিরপ্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী ইস্ট বেঙ্গল এফসি এবং মোহনবাগান সুপার জায়ান্টকে এক মঞ্চে নিয়ে এল

কলকাতা, ১৫ই মে, ২০২৬: হেনেকেনের অংশ ইউনাইটেড ব্রিউয়ারিজ লিমিটেড (ইউবিএল)-এর কিংফিশার স্ট্রং পাওয়ার সোডা আজ ভারতীয় ফুটবলে এক অনন্য মুহূর্ত তৈরি করেছে। ২০২৫-২৬ ইন্ডিয়ান সুপার লিগের (আইএসএল) বহু প্রতীক্ষিত কলকাতা ডার্বির আগে, উভয় ক্লাবের সঙ্গে তাদের অংশীদারিত্ব উদযাপন করতে এটি চিরপ্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী মোহনবাগান সুপার জায়ান্টস এবং ইস্টবেঙ্গল এফসি-কে একই মঞ্চে একত্রিত করেছে। এছাড়াও, ইউবিএল-এর আমস্টেল গ্রান্ডে প্যাকেজড ড্রিংকিং ওয়াটারও মোহনবাগান সুপার জায়ান্টসের সঙ্গে অংশীদারিত্ব করেছে, যার মাধ্যমে ভারতীয় ফুটবলে এর প্রবেশ ঘটল।

উভয় ক্লাবের সঙ্গে অংশীদারিত্বের মাধ্যমে, কিংফিশার স্ট্রং পাওয়ার সোডা দেশের অন্যতম প্রতীক্ষিত ক্রীড়া মুহূর্তের মাঝে ভারতীয় ফুটবলের সবচেয়ে দুই অনুরাগী ভক্তের সঙ্গে যুক্ত হচ্ছে। এই আয়োজনটি ভারতে ফুটবলের বিকাশ, এর ফ্যান সংস্কৃতির প্রাণশক্তি এবং খেলাটিকে সত্যিকার অর্থে সমর্থন করার ক্ষেত্রে ব্র্যান্ডগুলোর ভূমিকা তুলে ধরেছে।

ইউনাইটেড ব্রিউয়ারিজ লিমিটেডের চিফ মার্কেটিং অফিসার বিক্রম বাহল বলেন, “পশ্চিমবঙ্গে ফুটবল ভারতের অন্যতম শক্তিশালী সাংস্কৃতিক আবেগ। কলকাতা ডার্বিকে ঘিরে যে উত্তেজনা, প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বিতা এবং ভক্তদের আনুগত্য, তার তুলনা দেশের অন্য কোথাও নেই। কিংফিশার স্ট্রং পাওয়ার সোডা এবং অ্যামস্টেল গ্রান্ডে প্যাকেজড ড্রিংকিং ওয়াটারের মাধ্যমে আমরা এই সংস্কৃতির একটি খাঁটি ও অর্থবহ অংশ হতে চেয়েছিলাম। ডার্বির আগে দুটি ক্লাবকে একত্রিত করা ছিল সেই আবেগকে উদযাপন করার আমাদের একটি উপায়, যা কলকাতার ফুটবলকে সত্যিই বিশেষ করে তোলে।”

ভারতীয় ফুটবল যখন তার সাংস্কৃতিক ও ভক্ত-কেন্দ্রিক প্রাসঙ্গিকতা ক্রমাগত প্রসারিত করে চলেছে, তখন এই মৌসুমে কিংফিশার স্ট্রং পাওয়ার সোডা এবং অ্যামস্টেল গ্র্যান্ডে প্যাকেজড ড্রিংকিং ওয়াটারের উপস্থিতি এই খেলার প্রতি এবং এর নেপথ্যে থাকা আবেগপ্রবণ ভক্তগোষ্ঠীর প্রতি ইউবিএল এর ক্রমবর্ধমান অঙ্গীকারকেই প্রতিফলিত করে।