New Delhi, March 3 -- Anindita Ray, 39, a communications professional from Kolkata and mother of a toddler, lost 12 kg over two years-but her story is much more than shedding the extra weight she gained during pregnancy. Weighing 70 kg, she was always exhausted, emotionally drained and silently struggling with body image after childbirth and postpartum depression.

After having the baby, Anindita said she struggled in ways she had not expected. Though she still handled campaigns, deadlines and meetings effectively, internally she felt anxious, irritable and disconnected. The pressure to "bounce back" physically made her emotional pain worse. Motherhood had made her life beautiful, but it was also changing her body, hormones, sleep cycle a...