Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bipasha Basu to Dia Mirza, fierce moms of Bollywood who braved odds with their babies

Priyanka Chopra, Dia Mirza, Bipasha Basu. Pic/Instagram

There's probably nothing in the world that can beat a mother's strength, willpower and fierceness. When it comes to her child, she can fight the world to protect her piece of heart. With equal grace and softness, a mother can nurture, protect and shield her baby from adversities.

Similarly, a couple of Bollywood actresses had to fight the odds during their pregnancies and the initial stages of motherhood to safeguard their children. From premature deliveries to dealing with their children's health complications, they emerged strong. Bipasha Basu recently revealed her daughter Devi was born with two holes in her heart and had to undergo surgery when she was 3 months old.

As we celebrate the spirit of motherhood, let's take a look at actresses who cleared obstacles bravely and dealt with adversities with hope and positivity.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas welcomed a baby girl into their lives in January 2022. Their daughter named Malti Marie was conceived through surrogacy. After her birth, she had to be in the NICU for over 100 days. On Mother's Day 2022, Priyanka shared a heartwarming picture and wrote, "On this Mother's Day we can't help but reflect on these last few months and the rollercoaster we've been on, which we now know, so many people have also experienced. After 100 plus days in the NICU, our little girl is finally home. Every family's journey is unique and requires a certain level of faith, and while ours was a challenging few months, what becomes abundantly clear, in retrospect, is how precious and perfect every moment is. We are overjoyed that our little girl is finally home, and just want to thank every Doctor, nurse and specialist at Rady Children's La Jolla and Cedar Sinai, Los Angeles, who were there selflessly every step of the way. Our next chapter begins now, and our baby is truly a badass. Let's get it MM! Mommy and Daddy love you."

Dia Mirza

Dia Mirza and her husband Vaibhav Rekhi have a son named Avyaan Azad Rekhi who was born to them on May 14, 2021. The news was made official after a month of his birth. The actress revealed in an Instagram post that she had a premature delivery due to health complications. "Our heartbeat, our son Avyaan Azaad Rekhi was born on May 14th. Having arrived early, our little miracle has since then been cared for by tireless nurses and doctors in the Neonatal ICU. A sudden appendectomy during my pregnancy and a subsequent and very severe bacterial infection could have led to sepsis and proven to be life-threatening. Thankfully, the timely care and intervention by our doctor ensured the safe birth of our baby via an emergency C-section," she revealed.

Bipasha Basu

Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover's daughter Devi Basu Singh Grover was born on November 12 last year. Within three days of her birth, the couple learnt that she was born with a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). The little girl had to be operated on for two holes in her heart when she was merely 3 months old. During an Instagram live session with Neha Dhupia, Bipasha shared, "We didn't even understand what a VSD is. It is a ventricular septal defect... We went through a crazy period. We didn't discuss this with our family, we both were in a little bit of a blur. We wanted to celebrate but we were a little numb, me and Karan. The first five months have been very difficult for us. But Devi has been fabulous from day one. We were told that every month, we have to do a scan to know if it's healing on its own. But the kind of large hole that she had, we were told that it was doubtful, you will have to go through surgery. And the surgery is best done, when the child is three-months-old."

Celina Jaitley

Recently, Celina Jaitley opened up about the death of one of her children during her second twin pregnancy in 2017. She wrote on Instagram, "The outcome of our 2nd spontaneous #twinpregnancy was bittersweet due to Baby Shamsher's loss due to a heart condition.( I went into labour at 32 weeks due to my father's sudden passing.) It was very difficult for Peter n I but we smiled after many million tears in this photograph (1) to seal a happy memory for our blessing baby @arthurjhaag arrival as he went straight to NICU in an incubator for 3 months immediately upon his arrival. The NICU was a strange & difficult environment. From our experience, accepting that there will be good days and bad days will help you to feel less shocked & worried when challenging days happen. While not an option for everyone, Peter & I moved into the same hospital in Dubai for the few months of #nicu as loss of Shamsher left us immensely anxious about Arthur and feelings of frustration, intense sadness, nervousness, disappointment, guilt, anger, love overwhelmed us too. So please know that you are not alone in how you are feeling. Know that extreme & sometimes contradictory emotions are experienced by nearly every parent of a preemie at one time or another. It is very important at such a time to remember you can be more effective as a team than individually so watch your teamwork as parents. Speaking, singing gently to your premature baby in the NICU is a great way to bond and feel close, even when you can't hold him. Remember Impossible odds set the stage for incredible miracles. Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."

Debina Bonnerjee

Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Choudhary are blessed with two beautiful daughters named Lianna and Divisha. They were born last year. The actress has often spoken about complications in her pregnancy. In an interview with ETimes, she revealed, "In past 5-7 years I lived with the thought that my body has lost the natural capacity to conceive. My body is not up to the mark. I had endometriosis, Adenomyosis, which is ultimate obstruction to conceive naturally. I had a decline in AMH, which was depleting in very high rate. My quality of eggs were not good. Also, the major problem which I faced was my uterus lining was never forming well. My body was not at par to conceive naturally."

Dipika Kakar

Dipika Kakar revealed in her vlog that she developed Gestational diabetes during her pregnancy. She shared, "I did a gestational challenge test. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes which develops in 24-28 weeks of pregnancy. Even if someone doesn't have diabetes prior to pregnancy, they can also develop. There is a potential risk of developing during this time of pregnancy. In the recent reports, my blood sugar level was quite high."

Her first child with her husband Shoaib Ibrahim was born on June 21. However, the baby boy was premature. After spending a few days at the hospital, the trio returned home. The couple named the baby Ruhan.

Neha Marda

Neha Marda had a complicated pregnancy, and her daughter named Anaya Agrawal had a premature birth. The actress was hospitalised suddenly due to complications in her third trimester. Talking to Hindustan Times, she shared, "I had a super urgent C-section, jo definitely planned nahi tha. Earlier, it seemed like I might go for normal delivery. But due to an emergency and my BP fluctuations - my BP would fluctuate a lot and we had to take this decision."

She further added, "There was a time when actually doctors had a meeting with my family and asked bache ko bachaya jaaye ya maa ko bachaya jaye. Obviously mai yeh saare sawalo se durr thi (Doctors asked if they should save the baby or me, and I was away from these questions) because my family - my mother and husband were there to take their decision. But I was aware of it."

Mahhi Vij

Mahhi Vij and Jay Bhanushali have a beautiful daughter named Tara. She turned 4 on August 3. Tara is their first child who was conceived through IVF. In an interview with ETimes, Mahhi revealed she was pregnant with Tara and her twin. However, the other child couldn't survive. She told, "In IVF, there are chances of having multiple babies. Our Taru was A+ and the other baby was A. The baby couldn't survive. The doctors said it was good that it's leaving because most of the times it leaves along with the A+ baby. I was praying that it's not our fate to have them both but at least one should be with us."

Shilpa Shetty

In February 2020, Shilpa Shetty announced the arrival of her daughter named Samisha via surrogacy. In an interview with Vogue, the actress spoke about dealing with a couple of miscarriages after the birth of her first child, a boy named Viaan. "After Viaan, I did want to have another child for the longest time. But I suffered from an auto immune disease called APLA and that came into play every time I get pregnant. So I had a couple of miscarriages… it was a genuine issue." Antiphospholipid syndrome, also known as APLA is a disorder in which the immune system attacks normal proteins in the blood.

Sangita Ghosh

Sangita Ghosh, who is married to entrepreneur Rajvi Shailender Singh, welcomed a baby girl named Devi in December 2021. However, the news was shared in July last year. In an interview with ETimes, the actress spoke about going through a tough time as her daughter had to be kept in the NICU for 15-odd days post-birth. Sangita said, "It was an anxious time, as she had issues being a premature baby and was in the NICU for 15-odd days. It's not that we hid the news, but we decided not to talk about it till we felt the time was right. Sometimes, it feels so surreal that I ask my husband to pinch me. Devi is a very happy child and a copy of my husband. I recited the Gayatri Mantra when I held her for the first time, she opened her eyes and smiled. I can't forget that moment."