EMBODYING, EVANGELIZING & EMPOWERING TODAY’S ‘SHE-FORCE’.

Champion of women’s rights, author, global speaker, success mentor and beauty personality Dr. Mahima Bakshi has been ushering a bold new era of women achievers – with a courage and charisma all her own.

MEET THE LEADER 

Dr Mahima Bakshi is a Maternal Child Wellness Coach and Woman Activist, Author, entrepreneur and global speaker. She is the Founder – Owner of Birthing Naturally Queen, and the author of "Birthing Naturally". 

Dr. Bakshi also happens to be a strong proponent of Natural Birthing and Public Breastfeeding in India, and a staunch evangelist of women' s health during adolescence, prenatal postnatal phase and perimenopause. Indeed, she has also been a vociferous champion of Corporate Health fuelling a new age consciousness of the need for greater fitness and wellness at the workplace for all stakeholders. 

Dr Bakshi has represented India at the World Fashion Festival Awards 2019 held in Dubai as a celebrity Model Author. She was crowned Miss Stunning 2008 in Miss India Worldwide India, and has been on the Jury for various beauty pageants. She is also a winner at SHEawards Dubai 2020. 

All that apart, Dr Bakshi has been busy writing columns for Bollywood Newspaper Absolute India, authored the book Birthing Naturally, and is a popular YouTuber with her show Birthing Naturally with Dr Mahima Bakshi.

THE BIG MISSION  

We start by training our sights on the big need-gap her venture is addressing… something that makes it a game-changer and need-of-the-hour. We want Dr. Bakshi to explain it in detail for our readers, and she obliges gracefully - capturing the essence of her endeavour with compelling clarity: “If We look at the maternal child health in India, we have grown a lot over the years but as the corporate world has been taking over the lives of many women and also as couples move into living in nuclear families, the overall wellbeing of women and the time that they are able to find for themselves has been impacted drastically. Difficulty in conceiving or high-risk pregnancies with higher caesarean rates are commonly seen issues these days. So my book Birthing Naturally and my venture Birthing Naturally Queen is all about spreading awareness on wellbeing for mothers in pregnancy and post-delivery to help in better outcomes in women's health in long term aspect".

MOTIVATIONS & DRIVERS 

As we wish her the best for her book, our curiosity turns to a whole new area: Motivation. After all, a driven winner always has a secret fuel. So what are the triggers and motivations driving her journey forward? “I have been very passionate about making a difference in any woman’s life specially her health or being able to empower her to do big in her life. Everyday for me is a journey to help and touch the life of any pregnant or a new mom to help her improve her wellbeing and the fact that I get to meet Pregnant and new moms everyday where I am able to bring a change in their life makes me more driven towards my work and my passion. I have been getting great support from empowered women around me, renowned gynaecologists and brands around me that makes me more motivated to empower more women around me. Also being on panel with Rosewalk Hospital for women helps me engage with pregnant and new moms where I can explore different opportunities with Rosewalk and promote the centre to reach out to more women in South Delhi”, shares Dr. Bakshi.

ROADBLOCKS RAZED 

Most leaders carry an ice-berg on their back. Under the surface of the glory and glamour, lies an untold saga of grit, courage and dogged resilience which relentlessly pushes them towards the big goal. So what are the setbacks Dr. Bakshi has had to face and ace, so to speak? Dr Bakshi reveals, “From being a fashion model to becoming an author was a full journey of difficulties where it was tough for me to convince publishers to believe in my subject of the book that I wanted to write. Also, starting a pageant on a subject that was never touched earlier in the fashion industry - that too in COVID times where companies didn’t have budgets to sponsor - wasn’t easy. With limited sources and budgets I decided to launch my pageant to promote maternal mental health awareness as I wanted to help improve maternal wellbeing around me. I have had to face many challenges where many people around me have tried to pull me down from working or where people around me have not been able to match the energy of my drive and passion for my ambition and so it has been challenging to convince people to understand how the new ideas and ways could not just benefit moms and women around us but also bring a revolution in the women’s health industry.”

LEARNINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

And what have been the vital pearls of wisdom gleaned from these challenging phases? Continues Dr. Bakshi, “As I completed my season 1, I realised that everytime one needs to do something differently, one needs to take the risk and jump rather than wasting time in convincing everyone around. Have faith in your passion and ideas and do things differently to make a difference in society. Trust your instincts when you know it will benefit people genuinely around you - don’t care about what people say - make your Dreams happen because they are yours and only you can make them happen.” The leader leaves us with raw insights and rare recommendations which the next generation of leaders will doubtless do well to add to their gameplan. 

CREATING RIPPLES… OF CHANGE 

Fortune favours the brave, and Dr Bakshi’s unshakeable faith in her abilities has paid off. In her own words… “With the response that I have been getting for my season 2 from Africa, I am highly honoured to have big names from the fashion and healthcare industry from Africa who are ready to join me for the cause even without meeting me. The impact that my initiative has made is genuinely helping moms and many celebrity moms and dads have been supporting me to promote the cause.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

So what lies in her cross-hairs? What are the big ideas and milestones Dr Bakshi has planned for the journey ahead? The idea leader shares her oncoming plans spontaneously for VOH readers, “After successfully completing season 1 of my pageant Birthing Naturally Queen – Spreading Smiles from pregnancy to motherhood, as an Indian Chapter, I am looking forward to doing my season 2 as African chapter on the global platform. Also after winning the SHE Award Dubai 2020 as a global woman achiever award , it drives me more towards doing something for women specially mothers not just nationally but at the global platform too. And by the way - I am currently writing my second book which is on postnatal wellbeing and equal parenting which is due for release end of this year.“

LEGACY 

Be it instilling self-esteem and confidence in women, driving behavioural change within communities or opening up new possibilities and opportunities for a bold new generation, Dr Mahima Bakshi has been leaving a mark on multiple fronts. Which is the one that’s closest to her heart? How would she like to be remembered? What, in other words would she want her legacy to be? The lady who leads with courage confides, “I would like people to remember me as a woman who believes in empowering women to take care of their wellbeing and to believe in their dreams. I would want more women to get benefited from my venture and initiatives and be able to join me and support me in taking women empowerment and maternal child wellbeing to another level like I wish to.”

MESSAGE FOR READERS OF VOH

“There is so much more that can be done in the healthcare industry in India by touchbasing the wellness sector and specially post COVID with more people being conscious about their wellbeing so take care of your wellness and stay committed to your own health. Continue making a lifestyle change daily , trust me it’s never ending and let the passion in you stay alive, don’t stop dreaming , it will one day come true”, says Dr. Mahima Bakshi, signing off a brief but memorably inspirational leadership session.

*This story is published by VOH team*