Mother's Day Special - A Discussion on Post Natal with Rittika Karvat

[00:00:00] The views and opinions expressed in this episode is for informational and educational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice or consultations with healthcare professionals. Listener discretion is advised. Pops in a Pod, Pops in a Pod Hey everyone, welcome to Pops in a Pod.

[00:00:32] I am Peter Pog. And I am Nadir Pog. Now this past Sunday was Mother's Day and you know, Nadir we use the usual trope, right? Why only one day for Mother's Day? Every day is Mother's Day. No parents stops working, etc., etc. Right?

[00:00:49] I mean, we've been doing this podcast for a few years now and you know how it comes around every year as clockwork, right? And it doesn't change, which is the sad truth. I think there should just be one parent's day to recognize the efforts, you know, and

[00:01:04] encourage equal parenting. I think that would be a day to celebrate because then it's a celebration day, right? You can't, I mean, sure, it works for Pops in a Pod Mother's Day, Father's Day. We celebrate in our own way, right?

[00:01:18] But you don't become a parent just by having a kid. Like it's a journey after that determines your parental responsibilities. Yeah, that's true. I mean, you know, in today's episode where we kind of talk about postnatal, which is the period that occurs immediately after childbirth.

[00:01:34] I mean, like we always say, right? There's so much information about all these topics, especially prenatal, right? Online and the focus always is, you know, on the mother before the child is born. But there's not so much when it comes to postnatal, right?

[00:01:54] And I feel when I'm looking back, that's honestly a place that normally gets neglected because at that time, let's be honest, right? The focus shifts from the mother to the child who, let's be honest, doesn't really do anything, right? Exactly.

[00:02:10] I mean, I don't think any child ever remembers those days, but I'm pretty sure as it does, we want to go back to those days and just do absolutely nothing. Yeah, yeah. So to shed more light on postnatal, we've got Ritika Karwat on the episode to talk more

[00:02:28] about it and shed more light. So let's jump straight in. Ritika, hi, welcome to Pops in a Pod. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey. We've met so many parents in the past, mums and dads equally. But today obviously it's a very special time.

[00:02:48] Those days just went by a couple of days ago and we thought you'd be the perfect guest to come on board. But we've only set the context. Now we just want you to help us understand exactly who you are, what you do and why do you do it?

[00:03:00] Thank you, Nadir and Peter for this opportunity. As a mother, that is always my first role. But I will tell you what I do professionally as well. My name is Ritika Karwat and I'm a diamond educator. I run my own community of entrepreneurs.

[00:03:19] It's been a while that I've been doing my business and growing on a professional front. It was just off late when I had my second delivery, which is my six month old who currently is turning seven months.

[00:03:34] When I realized that between my first delivery and my second delivery, things haven't changed much. We still are where we were probably five and a half years back and everything is very basic.

[00:03:48] That's when I got the inspiration that something needs to be out there, which not only helps women and empowers them but also makes it very easy and smooth the transition from giving birth and going back to your normal routine.

[00:04:04] So that's when I came in this space of postnatal. I realized that a lot of women need the hand holding and the help. And a lot of times off late, I've heard friends saying, Oh no, no, you know, one child is enough.

[00:04:19] I mean doing it all over again doesn't make sense. I've had too much. I've gone through too much. And a lot of it is thanks to not having all the resources when you need them or

[00:04:32] not having the right contact points that give you authentic information when you need them. So this is a big void in the postnatal area. And that's where I decided that, you know, somebody has to take it up and somebody

[00:04:46] will have to do something about it because I mean, our country is really rich of people, which means we have plenty of mothers who require the same. That's when we conceptualize the idea postnatal first aid, which is everything which is to

[00:05:05] do with mothers after birth because that's where things get a little tricky and challenging. Yeah, you know, it's so interesting that you're talking about postnatal, right? And Nathar and I like in the last 150 episodes, we've covered so much really.

[00:05:24] And I think in general, we focus on the larger things. And I have to be honest, like typically post delivery, the focus is always on the child, never on the mother. And I think that's one of the insights that you would have had in there.

[00:05:41] But tell us about this community that you've kind of built. Like how did you kind of build upon it? I know you've had a great insight where you said having gone through your second delivery and you realized how things have not changed.

[00:05:55] But tell us post that how the community is kind of come together, who exactly forms this community, right? Because it's a broad community again, there are multiple factors in postnatal itself. Peter for postnatal is basically everything that happens after the delivery.

[00:06:12] So when you talk about community, yes, there is a whole community of women out there that require all the postnatal services. And as you correctly said, the focus is always on the child. So even though the mother has requirements, the first barrier is herself.

[00:06:33] She will not try and look for solutions to her own subtle issues. Those subtle issues become much bigger issues over the six months, which is the period of postnatal. And then it becomes difficult and tricky because when the mother is starting to

[00:06:49] have issues in particular areas, those issues pass on to the children as well. The community of women that need this is practically everyone. You could talk about somebody who is a working woman, somebody who is a homemaker, somebody who is probably working from home.

[00:07:08] Every mother, I'm talking also about my own mother and my own nanny. Even they would have required the same. Today, for example, when I learn about new things such as there's this condition that women have post-delivery called dysis recti, which means your abdomen is separated and it takes

[00:07:25] time for the abdomen to go back. This condition exists and Gynax are not very helpful in either passing the right contact who can help post-delivery to help you mend this condition. Do many women know they have the condition?

[00:07:47] And when they realize about this condition, it's pretty late to work on. It's the first six months again where recovery is maximum. So for example, my mother or my grandmother, they would also have issues postnatal. But today when they are 40, 50 and 60, those are the years when they're actually

[00:08:07] realizing that what could have been taken care of at a very early stage would have not resulted in the issues they have at 40, 50s and 60s. So currently whatever they are facing, whether it is bone issues, it is fibroids,

[00:08:26] it is just gut issues, all this actually resulted in those 40 to 60 days postnatal where the care and attention was not given to the mother's needs. And as I said clearly, the first barrier is the mother herself not prioritizing

[00:08:42] some of her needs, which then will result into bigger issues once they reach 40, 50 and 60. Ritika, this is something so important even for the father's right, considering that in today's day and age, it is a very special moment to have

[00:08:58] a child in the house whether it's a joint family set up, whether it's a nuclear family set up. Prenatal, obviously there's so much information out there, but when it comes to postnatal, it's almost as if it's forgotten.

[00:09:11] Kid is done, the child is done, now just go after the kid because the kid takes over the family space. So father's forgotten and the worst of all, the mother's forgotten. Do you feel that this change is now coming through because obviously

[00:09:27] somebody like yourself and with your network and what you intend to do in this entire space, there are two parts of the question. One is, do you think that this is now slowly, slowly changing with modern couples deciding to have children?

[00:09:41] And the role of the father is now slowly, slowly getting integrated in postnatal. What are your thoughts on that? That's a brilliant question. You know, I'm going to give you a quick example of my son's first

[00:09:52] day of school and my husband was coming to drop him with me and he was feeling so proud that he might be one of the few fathers who are going to come and drop their son to school because generally it's not a father's thing to do.

[00:10:05] And as soon as he reaches school, he realizes they're like, he's at the back of the queue, there are some 10 to 15 dads are already there with their children. So yes, things are changing compared to when his school's first day, when his father wasn't there, his father didn't even

[00:10:21] know which class he was in. So for him to be able to take up that role and to be leading that role where he's always present for his child is a very new thing. So it is the next gen thing to have fathers and mothers share responsibilities.

[00:10:40] What we intend to do with First Natal Post Aid is that whatever the parents need at the end of the day, as you correctly said, that the father also plays an important role, both of them have needs once the child is born.

[00:10:57] And it's important that all the needs are under one roof. So for example, Post Natal First Aid will ensure that you have an intimacy export, which is the first thing as a couple, you will need to take care

[00:11:11] of once you deliver the child because you may not be on the same page. Second thing, your lactation specialist, a lot of times, you know, breastfeeding can be such an important as well as hazardous situation, if not understood and not taken care of diet and nutrition.

[00:11:29] A lot of times we don't realize, but diet and nutrition changes the way you think and feel. And this also is with the babies because once the babies hit six months, most of the, you know, well known organizations, including WHO will say that you can start solids.

[00:11:48] So a very important role for the parents at that point is what to feed their child. And again, there, you know, what the child needs in that first six months decides his metabolism, his gut, his digestion, all of it. So that's also very important.

[00:12:03] Relationship management is also a very key point in a postnatal situation because, you know, when you said correctly that whether it's a joint family or it's a nuclear family, all families are always going to focus on the child.

[00:12:19] So OK, the child is crying or the child is hungry or the child is not sleeping. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Why is he actually not sleeping? Why is he actually not feeding well or why is he crying?

[00:12:37] A lot of times, you know, people say it, but they don't really walk their talk. They say that we don't want the child to cry. But, you know, that's again behaving like a bad doctor where treating the symptom and not getting to the cure.

[00:12:52] So everyone is going to stop that child from crying. You know, you'll have your dad, dad, your nanny, your nanny, dad, everybody, you know, acting like, you know, from the circus and they do funny things and they try and, you know, make the child happy.

[00:13:05] But is that what you want to inculcate as a sustainable relationship at home? The moment you have a child at home, you almost need a village to raise the child. And even if you are like maybe four adults living in that house,

[00:13:19] all four of you have to be on the same page on how the child needs to be raised. Children are very smart. They're extremely manipulative. They see one weak link and they'll have it their way. So when it comes to fathers and their role, I think that's where

[00:13:37] that's where you need them the most. Generally, you know, the husband and wife live with that in laws if they do. And it's it's very important that the father then steps up and speaks to his parents and makes them realize that how the child

[00:13:55] needs to be raised in consensus with his wife and himself that, OK, we would like to raise the child in this way that, you know, these are the couple of disciplines we want to have for the child and we wouldn't want continuous intervention

[00:14:10] in the process because it's not possible for you to raise a child on your own unless you have the silent support of all the other members. That's a very important role of the father. Another very important role of the father is just not adding

[00:14:23] more complexity to a very complex situation for a mother and child to bond well, they need space. And I'm not talking about physical space. I'm talking that you need to trust when the mother is doing something, when the mother is actually deciding something. And these are everyday tradeoffs.

[00:14:42] OK, as a mother today, I decide that this one meal I'm going to have in peace and the child can cry. People can try and pacify the child. You know, people can do whatever they wish is the best for the child,

[00:14:53] but I'm going to have one meal in peace. So the next three meals I can feed the child perfectly. That's a tradeoff she has made. Now, in that situation, your husband's support is so important because he needs to be able to support you and understand that

[00:15:09] whatever you have decided is for the best. It is to ensure that at macro level, everything is taken care of. Sometimes at micro level, the mother may not look like she's doing the ideal thing. But there's always a tradeoff in our head. And that's very important.

[00:15:26] And the mothers are not doing a tradeoff. They just get burnt out. And at some point, they just can't be there for their kids at all. So that's something that again, the partner, his support can change.

[00:15:40] Your structure, you know, when you have a child, there has to be a structure in place, not necessarily a physical structure. I'm not talking about a beautiful court or, you know, all the accessories that go in with a child when he's born or she is born.

[00:15:54] I'm talking about a mental structure that OK, you know, these are the timings that the mother is going to be active. Then these are the timings that she's going to be doing her own thing and she will need this much help in that situation.

[00:16:09] And again, this is a time where she'll be taking the baby out or she'll be feeding the baby. And at the end, again towards the end of the night, then listen, after this time, please do not try and stimulate the child

[00:16:19] because we need to get the child to sleep. These are basic structures. So even for these basic structures, you really need your husband's support to be able to enforce them in a very friendly and a very encouraging manner where everybody realizes that we're all in it together.

[00:16:35] Today, you know, there's so many children that grow up and they are very, very close to their grandparents and they have really been spoiled. And people can see that and there's no reversal after this. So it's at this age, as young as they are right now,

[00:16:51] that you start building a team amongst each other and it can be very difficult, challenging. It can be extremely intimidating. You can have multiple discussions, but all that is healthy. I always say and you know, a lot of my psychologists, you know, who are friends,

[00:17:07] they tell me that the people who have breakdowns, you know, the other ones are actually going to be better after a few months. The ones who never break down and they never actually cry are the ones who've got silent issues and they're just going to escalate.

[00:17:22] So it's very important that you make that noise. You break the ice, you talk, you discuss, you communicate and you make sure that you guys are a team. India is still a country where we have the joint families very predominant, right?

[00:17:39] And especially like you have a culture where and this goes across, right? I think it's like a very traditional thing where literally the after the child is born, or that she's the first child is born, they go stay with the mother and things like that.

[00:17:53] So I can totally see where you're kind of coming from. But talk to me about like roles in terms of where do you see? Or if you could give share some examples of both husband and wife, right?

[00:18:06] Because like you talk about a team and you talk about the macro levels. But like for a lot of dads listening in or even moms, right? How do you kind of open up what are some of the tips

[00:18:18] or something that you can share which will help them kind of ease the communication? Because let's be honest, like I'm kind of repeating what I said earlier. But at that point, no matter what happens, the focus is the kid.

[00:18:32] And you kind of at some point later down realize that, hey, we kind of forgot ourselves because that relationship still remains child or no child. So if you could share some of that, that would be great. What have you some of the best practices you've noticed?

[00:18:49] So, you know, in my journey so far, I think I've done the good, the bad and the ugly. Both my children have been a learning point for me. The journey of conceiving them, delivering them. And then we keep learning from them as they grow.

[00:19:06] My husband and I have grown as a team. I have always taken his points into consideration. He has taken my points into consideration. What I've always noticed is that there is a bias towards what the child does, whether it is my own self, it's the in-laws,

[00:19:23] it's my husband, we're always biased to the child. In the second child, there was a big difference in the way we handled the child because it wasn't our first. So we want very cruel to ourselves.

[00:19:36] We were actually a little kind to ourselves and we were very practical about things which were very hard to be practical about when it's your first time. A very important part of the journey that you share with your husband

[00:19:52] is not only the communication but it's respect and honour. I think those two are your keywords. It's completely okay to not agree with each other. It's completely okay to not do what the other person says. It's completely okay to ignore what the elders are saying.

[00:20:15] Sometimes a lot of advice comes without asking and that advice can be very intimidating because they're still trying to figure so many things out and there's advice coming at a time where you're not confident, you're very confused. So given that circumstances, whether it's your husband,

[00:20:36] whether it's you, whether it's just the focus on the child, all of it will be in balance when you are confident about what you're doing as a mother. So my journey tells me only one thing that

[00:20:52] I had to go back to listening to what I had to say after hearing everybody else. So listen to everybody but just do what your gut says is what I tell all the mothers that if you do what your gut says, you're going to do the right thing

[00:21:06] and that doesn't require any justification. Whether it means not traditionally what people do, whether it means that your husband is not there yet, he will get there and what changed in my situation was results. So I think in the first year when I delivered,

[00:21:24] I was really the bad cop in many ways and the second year when my child started walking, he was running at 11 months. So that was very early. That was quite early for a lot of the benchmarks that children have. So he joined school at 12 months

[00:21:42] and he joined a Montessori school and the Montessori teachers came and told my husband that what did you guys do because this guy knows his hand and motor, finds skills very, very well. Something has gone very right in the way you've brought him up

[00:21:58] because we haven't made him use a walker. We haven't made any maids help him in any kind of way. We've always kept things very grounded. We've been very normal about the way he's got to be raised and that showed off and paid off when he entered

[00:22:15] an environment where he could be independent. So a lot of the things you do, I would say that, you know, time tells whether you're raising the child correctly or not. I've always heard a lot of funny things from a lot of people. Oh, your kids will not sleep.

[00:22:35] Come on, kids don't sleep when you want them to sleep. That's how it always works. Or what are you saying? You know, our kids used to eat no nutrition, but look at them. They're so strong and they're so well built. I'm like, you know what?

[00:22:50] All of it, whatever you're saying, absolutely right in your circumstances. Fortunately, I have the circumstances where I can feed my kids better things and I'm going to do it. And in my circumstances, I have the opportunity to be able to prioritize their routine.

[00:23:07] I'm not somebody who's working from morning to evening and cannot make it for those important touch points where they need to be put to bed, where maybe having staff or any kind of filters doesn't help because, you know, the kids just take advantage of that.

[00:23:20] So there are some things which I ensured happened and results showed our kids have gone to the best schools. We have not been alumni of any great schools. I think we are just very street smart as parents. There is no amazing credentials beyond that.

[00:23:37] A lot of things, you know, happened with time and today, in fact, I'm quoted in the house. Bhavi has said we have to eat this. My father was changing his diet as per what I give my kids. Then my mother-in-law drinks one bowl of soup

[00:23:56] because my children have to have a bowl of soup. It's very important for me that they get a little bit of nutrition over and above whatever else they want to eat. So in fact, people are inculcating that in their everyday life

[00:24:07] and there's a lot of growth and there's a lot of change from the day I got married till today. I can see that this is sort of a culture in our house where initially the whole culture was rebellion. No ways.

[00:24:21] We are not going to listen to the new member of the family. What does she think? You know, how can she come and just change the structure over here? And now the structure I have created is so convenient. Everybody wants to follow the same structure.

[00:24:34] So they will support the structure because they have seen themselves and the kids prosper in that structure. You know, I actually wanted to ask you and this is something that Preet and I always ask all our guests when we are discussing an event and experience, which is

[00:24:54] I'm sure it will have its own shares of myths and facts. So when it comes to postnatal, what are some of the common myths that you have heard? And as you said, that sometimes you hear these funny things in your experience, what are these myths and, you know,

[00:25:13] can they be even substantiated? I've heard too many, but I'm going to bust a few of them, which I found extremely hilarious. So there was this one thing where I remember I had got a mat, you know, for my kids to play on.

[00:25:29] And I was told that unless they fall on the hard ground, their knees are never going to work. And I said, what does that mean? He said, no, you don't understand. They have to hurt themselves multiple times and then they learn how to walk.

[00:25:46] And I mean, I had nothing to say because I said, listen, I'm putting the mat and my kids are going to play on a mat. And that's how it's going to be. And they were fine. They I mean, my older one walked beautifully

[00:25:59] between nine and 10 months and running at 11 months. So he was fine. There was another couple of myths that were there that, you know, if you wake up the kids very early in the morning, doesn't mean that they're going to be early risers.

[00:26:15] You should let them sleep in the morning so the whole family can sleep. And, you know, we can all have a peaceful start to the day. So again, there I felt that a lot of it was convenience.

[00:26:27] You know, not waking up your kids in the morning is a lot of convenience because you can sleep through the morning, all of that. But that is a very short term goal again. The moment your kids start school, they are going to really lag

[00:26:40] because you've got to be an early riser whether you like it or not. The school's not going to change their time for you. So that was another thing which I had to sort of just, you know, get through and, you know, let the time pass

[00:26:54] because today I'm telling you my kid gets up, gets ready on his own. He's on. He's never missed one day of the bus. He loves going in the bus. So I'm very happy about it because I'm I'm pretty much just chilling and it's on autopilot.

[00:27:07] So that's the hard work that is paid off. A couple of other myths were about food. That, you know, I used to always say that when you're eating, you can't mix fruit with your food. Your fruit time has to be different. Not when you're having your hot food.

[00:27:26] So when you're having your roti, sabzi and all of that, you can't just start eating pomegranate, you know? There has to be some bifurcation in the kind of food types. So what I noticed at least was that over time, over time,

[00:27:41] when I would eat or my kids would eat, when you eat particular categories of food together, you never have tummy issues. When you mix categories of food, then you tend to have a tummy issue. And a lot of it is like after eating a proper meal,

[00:27:59] your dal, bhaat, roti, sabzi or DVRS is complete. After that, you're having a bowl of, I mean, fresh cut apple. It is completely not helping your digestion. So there were some things where I felt that, you know,

[00:28:17] I understand that you want to have a mood to eat what you like to eat. But your mood needs to be in line with your metabolism. You can't just, you know, decide to eat anything at any point. And then again over there, I got proven right

[00:28:31] because a lot of the times people in the family got sick, went to doctors, had to go get their tummy checked, you know, had to keep visiting the doctor to ensure that there's no stomach infection. And all of it wasn't really infection was just that

[00:28:47] you've been abusing your, you know, the way you eat. So you need to really take care of some things in childhood. And they say that, you know, parents are an example. So if I'm going to do it, my kids are going to do it.

[00:29:00] And there are so many things I do wrong, I'm so sure. But there are a few things I want to do right, where I want them to learn what the right thing is. So I've been trying to set a good example.

[00:29:10] Yeah, I think that's something that both Nader and I can strongly stand behind because I think if there's one thing that Nader and I have repeatedly talked about on our various episodes is how parents need to be example for their kids, right?

[00:29:25] I mean, monkey see monkey do as they say. Before we let you go, there's one major question we have for you. And for all those tuned in and will listen to this episode sometime down the line later.

[00:29:40] Do tell us about like how they can reach out to you? What kind of, you know, services or things that, you know, the postnatal first aid will kind of help it. So we'll also leave the links to everything in the show notes. So go ahead.

[00:29:54] So postnatal first aid has been established after a lot of thought. And it's very close to my heart because these are all the services I have used personally. So it was very important to get people together with the same cause rather than getting people together commercially.

[00:30:12] It's a complete business. The idea is that the business as sustains so that it can help people now and in the future. We're around 10 profiles under one roof right now.

[00:30:26] The idea is that amongst these 10 profiles, we're going to see how many of these services are needed by the consumers. So we will approach the women in their prenatal phase around their seventh and eighth month,

[00:30:37] where they are made aware of all the services that they might require in postnatal. And they're made aware that if nothing, at least you can consult us and you can understand if you need any services that we are available for you.

[00:30:53] Those are the two points that we're going to make sure that they understand in their prenatal phase. So it may not be that all of them need all the services, but at some point in postnatal when you need a service, you don't have time to make the calls.

[00:31:05] You don't have time to actually find out if the person is right or wrong in terms of the situation that you're in. So I think that's a good point. You can actually find out if the person is right or wrong in terms of their background.

[00:31:16] Their background check is hard. And the third thing is that at that point, you have this funny mommy brain. You don't even realize that what the problem really is. Many times I had this issue where I'm like, I'm really upset. I haven't slept.

[00:31:31] I'm really upset. I haven't slept. It wasn't the sleep. It was just anxiety. It was just not knowing how to handle the situation. It was just that feeling of maybe depression where at some point you are all the attention you needed and then once you deliver,

[00:31:50] nobody's around like I can only see crows around, you know, available to you to support and help you. So that was the reason why a lot of women have hormonal change with that is emotional change, with that is physical change.

[00:32:07] There's a big imbalance between your mind and your body. So postnatal first aid covers all of that. You have a relationship consultants, you have your intimacy consultant, you have your sleep consultant for your baby, which is very, very important.

[00:32:21] Instead of spending on all these night maids, just getting the sleep right is very important and that happens with a confident mother. Once you're confident of what you're going to do with the support you get, you will reach there in no time.

[00:32:33] Your diet and nutrition is very important. It's very important that you also don't succumb to all the unnecessary expectations. So to be able to bridge that, a lot of talk therapy can be needed and can be very helpful. And not only the talk therapy for the mother,

[00:32:49] sometimes that person can intervene as a neutral person between the mother and the father, the mother and the family. Somebody has to build a cat. It's not possible for the mother to say anything because you're so much in the situation.

[00:33:02] You're never going to say it in a very diplomatic manner. It's not going to come out well. You'd rather have somebody else step in and do the job and do it right from an education perspective as well. So those are a few things which are more soft skills.

[00:33:19] Then you also have proper medical skills that you require. You need to check things like post delivery, how are you feeling? What is your body? Where is it exactly in which phase is it? If you had a C-section, are you on the recovery phase?

[00:33:32] How are things with you? Is your core back in place? You have a lot of people who have issues because of their core not being back in place. And those issues, they surface again when they're much older. And that time it's probably difficult to handle them

[00:33:47] because it's been so many years under the belt. You've not realized it's been there. So these are just some things but all of it is interconnected and none of it is required. So you need to just see it as per the mother.

[00:34:01] Whatever she needs is what we're going to be able to deliver. But the idea was to bring up a group of people who are in it for the cause. So they're not in it just to make more customers because they already have their own businesses.

[00:34:14] They don't need this platform. But the platform needs the right people because I've always said that if you have the good people prosper, you'll always have good people for the services you require. And I feel that's very important. So that's where the intention came to create this platform.

[00:34:32] And it seems that we are in the right direction. That's great, Ritika. Thank you so much for that. And I think from our little chat today, we've come to the realization we always knew that Mother's Day can't just be one day.

[00:34:47] It has to be... It is a continuous process. And you've kind of given us that hope for other moms especially and other parents, to be parents to ensure that this stage, this vital stage of post-natal in the first six months is extremely crucial.

[00:35:06] And there are people like you who are willing to help and who are willing to provide that service. So yeah, thank you so much for giving us all that information and we wish you the best. Thank you so much and happy Mother's Day again. Thanks so much, Ritika.

[00:35:23] We appreciate this. It's interesting what Ritika is doing because being a mother and the kind of experience that she has gained, especially now that she has two children, something would have really impacted during that phase. And I think she's still in that post-natal phase for the second time.

[00:35:44] And to come up with this opportunity, this idea, this platform to get like-minded people and just share stories and eventually kind of get into the services is interesting. It's unique and I think India needs a platform like this. What do you think, Peter?

[00:36:00] Yeah, I think Ritika kind of took us through that entire importance really well and kind of explained and broke down to us because it's not just the dads but also other family members that need to get involved in this phase.

[00:36:16] So yeah, we're going to leave links to all of this in the show notes. But do let us know as always if you'd like us to talk about any particular topic on this podcast.

[00:36:28] As always, you can reach out to us on popsinapod.com or you can just search for Popsinapod on Instagram and that is exactly how we met Ritika. She found us on Instagram. She dropped us a message and she shared this lovely, lovely idea.

[00:36:45] And we invited her on the podcast to share her story. So yeah, just like Ritika, you too can share your story and we can invite you as a guest on Popsinapod and share your parenting story as well. So yeah, do that.

[00:36:58] Follow us on Instagram and who knows, maybe you might just find yourself being a guest on Popsinapod. All right, that's all from us for this episode. We'll see all of you in a couple of weeks time. See you then.