Dr Punam Krishan on why she will never take life for granted

Participating in Strictly Come Dancing’s familiar televised Saturday night ballroom blitz in front of millions seems, to viewers at least, to take a special type of confidence.

How on earth do the celebrities, especially the more amateur dancers, do it?

For Dr Punam Krishan, an NHS Scotland GP, author, regular on BBC1’s Morning Live and – she’s the first to admit – very much one of these amateur dancers, that’s a good question.

There were, she says, feelings of vulnerability as she sashayed across the dance floor with dance partner Gorka Márquez on the latest series.

But for Punam there was thankfully also a fountain of strength which stemmed from the birth of her first child.

‘I don’t take anything for granted now’

More than a decade ago, Glasgow-born Punam, who was working as a GP in the city, experienced complications during childbirth.

“Everything went wrong,” she says, and following a traumatic forceps delivery, son Aanish was born. Punam had lost 60% of her blood volume and experienced anaphylaxis, overwhelming sepsis and organ failure.

Although she survived, she tried to tell medical staff something wasn’t right with her son, but this was put down to her own traumatic experience.

A couple of weeks later, Aanish became blue and floppy in his grandmother’s arms, from a condition called silent reflux, and had to be resuscitated.

“Being vulnerable is one of the scariest things,” says Punam, talking about the intense experience 12 years ago.

“But on the other side of that is, I’d like to hope, strength.

“It was a huge transitional moment in my life. And I’m thankful for that, because I practise gratitude now like you wouldn’t imagine.

“At one point my husband was told we weren’t going to make it. Times were tough. I don’t take anything for granted now.”

The incident, and the sheer amount of work she was doing as an overworked family doctor, set Punam on a path to re-examine her life; although it was entirely unplanned, that path led to the Strictly dancefloor.

“After the traumatic birth with him, I had very severe postnatal depression,” Punam adds. “And what I did was I just dived in, into work, and it was a lot.

“I was looking after a little one and doing full-time GP partnership and everything else that life comes at you with. It got to a point where, yes, I felt burnt out. Eventually I had to take the step back and just review what was going on.”

TV career

Her experience of burnout and maternity care led her to post about her traumatic time on social media.

She is, she says, drawn to the public education aspect of being a doctor, and her posts led to her presenting Laid Bare for BBC Scotland, a show where she gave patients a “living post-mortem”.

That led to appearances on Morning Live, a couple of books, and of course pairing up with Gorka on Strictly.

Gorka Marquez and Dr Punam Krishan on Strictly.

Her son Aanish is now 11, and he has a little sister Ellora, who turned 5 last week. Punam is married to fellow doctor Sandesh Gulhane, who politics watchers will recognise as the MSP and health spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives.

He took the children from Glasgow to the Strictly studio to watch mum, although perhaps there was a hint of jealousy as he did.

“When I met my husband, he said two things,” Punam reveals. “One was that he wanted kids, and the other was that he wanted to be on Strictly one day.

“When I called to tell him I was going on, I knew there was no going back for me.

“When I got the call I thought it was a big prank. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, to go and do something so much bigger than myself, in an area where I wasn’t comfortable. It wasn’t medical, I’m not an entertainer, I can’t dance. Learning to dance in the public eye and performing was one of the craziest things I’ve ever done. But I got the moment of a lifetime with that Bollywood dance.

“I loved representing Scotland, and to be able to represent the Scottish-Indian community and try to do them proud, with all the love and support from Scotland… I can’t tell you.”

Healthcare

Educating the public is part of what drives Punam, who still works as a locum GP for the NHS. A survey by health company Kenvue has revealed Gen Z (those aged between 16-28) spend over an hour on “personal care” every day.

“As a mum of two young children, it’s something that’s been on my mind,” she says. “My eldest is coming up for 12 and we’ve started talking about hygiene and personal care but of course as a GP, I have lots of people asking about their skincare. It’s a big topic now.

“When I saw that Gen Z spent an hour a day on personal care routines it piqued my interest. Times really are changing, aren’t they? That definitely didn’t happen back in the day, did it? It’s fair to say older generations aren’t like that, and that fascinates me.”

Punam gives simple advice when it comes to self care, something she has thought a lot about after experiencing burnout and postnatal depression.

She wants people to keep it simple. Rather than slapping on multiple creams every day, focus on things like drinking plenty of water, getting good sleep, and using SPF sun cream.

“It’s all about time,” she says. “Maybe you think that, by buying products or slapping on as many things as you can, you’re actually buying yourself time.

“But actually taking time to focus on the basics is better. There’s a belief these products will make the difference and patch up your skin. As a GP I’m invested in long-term health. And, well, prevention is the best cure.

“So let’s really educate people. I get that it’s busy, but you can drink water. You can drink a bit of water!”

You get the sense Dr Punam’s patients like her: she doesn’t hector when she gives advice.

It likely comes back to her experiences on the other side of the consultation table.

“That experience now informs the kind of care that I subsequently try to give my patients,” she says. “Sometimes it takes an incident like that to give you a deep sense of empathy, on a level where you really get it.

“Doctors are humans too, and we have the same issues that everybody else has. And I think sometimes people think that we’re invincible, but we’re not. For a while life was really tough. Now I can look back at it and have a little bit of a smile.”

Punam can only smile when she thinks about Strictly. Her face lights up when she talks about it.

“It was just a dream. I had this mad vision on my vision board of going on Strictly,” she laughs. “My little boy used to watch it all the time. Every year he’d say: ‘Mummy, I could see you on there one day,’ and we’d dance around the living room.

“The love I felt from everyone just blows my mind. My heart still feels warm.”

No song and dance for Gorka

Gorka Márquez, Dr Punam Krishan’s professional dance partner on Strictly, didn’t tread on her toes when it came to teaching her routines.

He also didn’t make a song and dance about her having to rush away from practice to pick up her kids.

“Gorka was lovely. I think what we both had in common is that we’re both working parents, so I think that he really understood the juggling act that I was doing,” says Punam.

“I’d say to him: ‘I’m so sorry. I’m gonna do the drop-off, and I’ve just come from the clinic…’ but he really just made it all work. He was very supportive.”

Punam says her husband, politician Dr Sandesh Gulhane, struggles with dance moves like she does.

“He can’t dance at all! Gosh, no,” she laughs. “It’s fair to say since Strictly, all my dance moves have been questionable. I’ve learned nothing, really…”