Bangalore is well-equipped to handle the fitness needs of expectant mothersand any questions new mums might have, says Amrita Gupta.
Sveta Gupta, a first-time mother with an 18-month-old baby, was deliriously happy. She had gone through the ordeal of labour with surprising ease and had delivered her baby without surgery. But she was then faced with a whole new set of problems. Now, with the baby by her side, she was full of post-birth pangs. Some of them seemingly prosaic, but nonetheless baffling: how to soothe a crying baby? What to do about breastfeeding problems? How to hold a baby correctly?
“Many doctors just say that they will take care of everything, but that’s not assuring, it doesn’t answer several questions,” she said. As a new mother, Benjamin Spock’s Baby and Child Care wasn’t always the handiest, especially in situations of well-meaning advice that didn’t have any kind of medical basis.
What Gupta finally did, and now recommends as a member, was to find her answers at the Bangalore Birth Network. An organisation for pregnant women and new mothers, “BBN is a support structure that augments help you receive from the doctor and the family”, she said. Gupta views the network more as a community than just a group of people you go to for advice. “I share experiences and get tips from experts and other mothers, and feel more assured about the choices I make.”
Nora Kropp, a midwife from the United States co-founded the network in October last year with Paige Trabulsi, a doula (a non-medical assistant who provides support in prenatal care, during and after childbirth), also from America. Kropp spoke of an “immense need for such a network in Bangalore; women can now be sure of reliable, evidence-based answers and help”.
Ironically, young mothers continue to be subjected to myths and old wives’ tales that don’t necessarily have scientific basis. To address this, professionals like Dr Renu Arora conduct childbirth education classes which she said “are a great way for a couple to prepare for the lifestyle change of having a baby”.
Dr Arora, a lifestyle physician, seeks to dispel what she said are unfounded beliefs – for instance that pregnant women need to eat for two, and must avoid exercising. She conducts Lamaze classes to teach techniques for relaxation and coping, as well as pre- and post-natal fitness classes. “Pregnancy and childbirth should be considered as normal as possible; women need to have more confidence in their bodies,” said Dr Arora. Stringent deadlines, stressful work places and bustling lifestyles, she said, have turned the idea of natural birth and even the process of going through labour into alien concepts. According to a World Health Organisation study, the percentage of births by caesarean section stands at 70 in urban India, when, if performed only when absolutely necessary, that procedure should only account for 10 percent of births. said Dr Arora: “The consequence of moving mothers out of the home into a hospital is that we now focus on frills, rather than simplifying a very natural process.” She said a healthy and fit mother will not only feel better during pregnancy, she will have the strength and flexibility that makes for easier labour. To join the Bangalore Birth Network, mail nycdoula@gmail. com.
Source : Time Out Bengaluru ISSUE 1 Friday, July 23, 2010
Register
