- Written by Dr. Latha V, Senior Consultant & Founding Member at UWAY Health
Let’s break a myth today.
When you look at the women in this banner leaders, athletes, founders, public figures the obvious question that comes up is:
What’s common among them, other than success?
Motherhood, they are all successful mothers !
It’s tempting to assume they had more time, more help, or some special balance that ordinary working mothers don’t.
In clinics , we see something else.
Most working mothers who come to us aren’t worried about love (well some of them are, but most of them aren’t)
They’re worried about absence.
“I’m with my child,” they say, “but my mind is always somewhere else.”
This is where a medical thinking offers a very grounded perspective. Children are not only responding to actions or routines.
They are constantly responding to the mental and emotional state of the caregiver.
Before language develops, before logic sets in, this sensitivity is already active.
A distracted presence feels very different to a settled one.
Even to a young child.
From a health perspective, this matters.
Because emotional safety is closely linked to how a child’s nervous system learns to regulate itself.
And that regulation doesn’t require long hours.
It requires attuned moments.
In fact, we often observe that a short period of calm, undivided attention especially during transitions like returning home from work has a disproportionately positive effect.
It reassures.
It anchors.
It signals availability.
This is why we don’t usually advise working mothers to “do more”.
That advice only increases strain.
What we suggest instead is a small shift in how time is entered.
Arriving home, pausing for a moment before engaging.
Letting the body settle.
Making eye contact.
Listening without multitasking even briefly.
Not because it is a technique.
But because it changes the quality of presence.
Motherhood was never meant to be a performance of endurance.
It was meant to be a relationship built on connection.
When the mind is regulated, even a few minutes can be deeply nourishing for the child and for the mother.
That’s often the part that gets missed.
This approach doesn’t just support children.
It protects maternal health too.
So the common thread among the women you see here isn’t superhuman capacity. It’s something quieter.
An understanding, sometimes intuitive, sometimes learned that presence matters more than duration.
That’s not a compromise.
It’s simple wisdom.
And as a monther of two, that’s what I also try to practice.
About Author
Dr. Latha
With a stellar career starting at AVP Chiktisalayam, Coimbatore, Dr. Latha brings 23 years of global expertise.
Specializing in chronic health issues, she is a trusted practitioner for conditions like obesity, PCOS, migraines, allergic rhinitis, infertility, Sciatica, and osteoarthritis, particularly among women and children.
