‘Every couple of days she’ll be sleeping and Ranveer and I will look at her and then just look at each other and be like, we can’t believe this has happened to us.’

Photograph: Kind courtesy Deepika Padukone/Instagram

Deepika Padukone recently opened up about her life as a mom, and what made her and husband Ranveer Singh name their daughter Dua.

In an interview with Marie Claire, Deepika says, ‘I do have to tell myself that your life doesn’t end the minute you have a child, and that you do need to get back to your life, or at least a part of your life before you had a baby. But every moment where I’m not able to be with her, there is guilt.’

Dua was born in September 2024, and Deepika admits that she ‘went through a lot in the eight, nine months of being pregnant’.

Deepika and Ranveer didn’t name her immediately after her birth.

In fact, Deepika says it wasn’t until November that they picked her name.

‘I think what was more important for us was to first hold the baby in our arms, allow her to sort of see this new world she’s come into, allow her personality to start developing a little bit,’ Deepika tells Marie Claire.

She asked Ranveer over a text message at night, when he was on a film set: ‘Dua?’

He said yes, and ‘that was it.’

Dua, the couple explained later on social media, meant a prayer because ‘she is the answer to our prayers.’

 

 

IMAGE: Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh at her pregnancy photoshoot. Photograph: Kind courtesy Deepika Padukone/Instagram

Deepika, who is on maternity leave now, spoke about how she’s trying to balance her life as a working woman and a mother.

When she told a director that she couldn’t meet him because she needed to be with her daughter, she found his response ‘surprising’.

‘He turned around and said, ‘Oh, looks like she’s taking motherhood very seriously’. I don’t know if that was a compliment or a jab. What does that mean, taking motherhood seriously? Yeah, of course, I am!’ Deepika says.

 

IMAGe: Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. Photograph: Panna Bandekar

Deepika makes sure she takes care of herself both mentally and physically.

The actor, who opened up about her struggle with depression in 2014, says, she’s ‘okay so far’ mentally.

‘Everyone around me has been really kind and nice enough to sort of check on me. I’ve been very lucky to also have that support system that’s more than happy and willing to step in whenever I need it.’

She’s working on her physical health too.

She makes sure to drink three litres of water daily and believes in keeping herself active.

In her third and ‘uncomfortable’ trimester, Deepika tried yoga.

Post-delivery, she started swimming, then Pilates, then functional training.

Next, she will add cardio and weight training to her schedule.

Sleep, which she considers the ‘number one health tool or hack that I think is so underrated’ is never the same for a new mom but Deepika has been tracking her hours of sleep.

The interview ends on a note of awe, as Deepika says, ‘You’ve always wanted something. And there it is in your hands. Every couple of days she’ll be sleeping and Ranveer and I will look at her and then just look at each other and be like, we can’t believe this has happened to us.’