Vinita
If I was asked today which has been the happiest moment of my life, I would instantaneously say “The birth of my second baby boy, Sohm!” The whole experience is etched in my mind forever. I can easily visualize his body as it came out, hear his first soft cry amidst soft background music and feel the sensation of him coming out and being enveloped in a feeling of well being and pure joy.
My first baby too was a normal delivery but was not quite natural. I took ante-natal supplements, underwent numerous sonographies and on the day of the delivery the membranes were ruptured, Pitocin was administered and I asked for the epidural because I found the pain too unnaturally sudden and intense. I always was wary of medication of any kind but due to lack of information and research on my side I didn’t question what happened. I gave birth lying down with a fetal monitor strapped on with the epidural paraphernalia and with nurses holding my legs to help me but it didn’t. Fundal pressure, a vacuum and an episiotomy got my baby out. Of course now I know lying down to birth is like pushing uphill.
When I conceived for the second time I knew I wanted it to be different. I wanted to be more in control, more in tune with myself and have a gentle birth for my baby. I was recommended to read “Gentle Birth Choices” by Barbara Harper and it motivated me. I attended Birth India’s Seminar and got clearer about I did and didn’t want.
We looked at the birthing options available in Mumbai, and considered the various options including the Goa Birthing Centre, water birth or home birth but could not settle for any one of these due to lack of family support and non-availability of trained midwives and emergency paramedics. My husband and family were keen on finding a solution which was mid-way between a home birth and an absolute medical hospital birth; just to be safe side in case of any emergency. We changed over to Dr. Feroze Soonawala. I made a very clear and detailed birth plan and discussed it with him. He was in complete support of what I wanted.
My preparation involved a lot of research on the internet and reading up on what is done abroad. I followed the diet and guidelines of Dr. Vijaya and Anju Venkat from the Total Health Awareness Centre which helped me a lot. Also Dr. Rita Shah helped my husband and I with birthing positions which we practised at home. I listened to a lot of soothing music, practised yoga and meditation and focussed on being happy and relaxed. I did not take any supplements during pregnancy or any medication after delivery. I just ate more healthy food to get all the nutrition both my baby and I needed.
My pregnancy was a normal low risk one. The Braxton Hicks were intense right from the eighth month onwards. My first baby came a week before the due date so I was expecting this one to be early too. But the baby had other plans! I kept getting false alarms till finally on 3rd April (a week after my due date) I started getting regular contractions 10 minutes apart from 11 am to 4.30 pm.
Lina, our midwife had been with us at home since afternoon and we decided to go the hospital which was Masina (Byculla). We wanted to be safe and get there from our home in Santacruz without getting stuck in peak time traffic. We left home by 4.45 pm and were at the Hospital at 5.30 pm. The resident doctor conducted the Non Stress Test (NST) and everything looked OK but the contractions slowly faded away and by the time it was 7.30pm I had no contractions! My husband thought it was better we went back home rather than stay in the hospital. I decided it was better we stayed on just in case the pains came back in the middle of the night. Meanwhile Lina had to go back home and we told her we would call her just in case there was any action. The nurses asked me to take a sedative so that I would sleep well and be rested so that I would energy for the real thing, I assured them I would be rested without it! We went to sleep and at 2.45 am I got a very strong sharp pain. At first I thought my stomach was upset with the food I had had for dinner and was getting gripes but it wouldn’t reduce and then it become regular every 5 mins and more intense each time. We called Lina and asked her to hail an A/C cab but she wasn’t able get through to them. As I was getting ready with what I needed in the labor room, my water bag broke. I hadn’t experienced it the first time so I was a bit unnerved. I was in labor, sitting on the commode, passing watery stools and giving directions to the cab agency to pick Lina up! My husband was getting my things together and staying calm. The hospital staff checked me and confirmed that I was in labor and asked me to move to the labour room after having an antibiotic tablet (which I didn’t). I wore my own special gown (which opened in the front, to get skin to skin contact with the baby when he/ she would be born) and my husband helped me and got the music, incense, candles etc. The labour room was small and warm. I asked for the air conditioning to be turned on, which they did but it was going to take a while for it to cool. The pains were closer together and intense. I was seated and squeezed my husband’s hand and let myself go. I started going more inwards. There was another woman in the adjoining room in labour and she was due to give birth soon and the doctor was on his way.
At 4.15 am Lina joined us and by then I was getting contractions every couple of minutes. My doctor came and was as cool and composed as he always is and told me I was doing well. The nurses kept telling me to lie down but I told them I was more comfortable sitting. They told me to ask for a bed pan if I wanted to pass stools but I was sure I would walk to the loo. I wanted to get a bit more settled in the room but I was to be moved to actual delivery room only after the other lady had delivered. She was heavily sedated, was lying down and was alone. Her mother waited outside and here I was with my loving and super calm husband on one side, a trained midwife on the other, making noises I didn’t know I could make, having an experience of a life time! The lady in the next room in the other room delivered and I finally went into the delivery room. By then I was also very close to delivery; I knew the various birthing positions but couldn’t think straight then. I asked my doctor and we settled on the bed with my husband sitting on it and me leaning on him with my back towards him. I held on to bars on the hospital bed. The incense and candles were burning, the doctor actually helped in setting up the music system and I was trying to relax as much as I could. Had it gone on for too long I may have been tempted to ask for some medication but the pains were so quick, I wasn’t even thinking, I was in a zone.
Lina kept reassuring me and told us we were doing great. The doctor had told me to inform him when I got an uncontrollable urge to pass stools and I thought to myself “How embarrassing!” ( I hadn’t felt it the last time). And within a few minutes I proclaimed “I want to shit!!” Embarrassment was the last thing on my mind. The doctor told me to go ahead and push. He asked the staff to reduce the lights in the room.
I just followed my instincts, took each pain as it came and after about 4 or 5 contractions and couple of hard pushes the baby was out at 5.36 am!!! All this while the doctor just stood and watched and reassured me. I saw my baby coming out of me, no one touched him or prodded and I felt everything….. It was ecstasy! The doctor then gently gave me the baby. I immediately put him on my breast and cuddled him. My husband and I were hugging the baby. The doctor waited till the cord stopped pulsating and then my husband cut the cord. After spending 5 minutes with the baby and the placenta delivering naturally, the staff took the baby for checking its weight etc.
The doctor informed that I had a minor tear which could be stitched up after taking a local anesthesia or I could let it heal naturally. I decided to leave it alone. My husband went to keep our son company while he was being cleaned, weighed etc. and I made calls to my family. I went into my hospital room and quickly stood and had a shower so that I could be clean for the baby by the time he came to me. I changed and sat down and couldn’t believe how energized and fresh I felt. I had made calls in 15 miniutes of giving birth and could stand and bath myself with 20 minutes while the first time around I just remember being groggy and spaced out. Within a few minutes Sohm, our baby boy, was back with us and snuggled up with him and nursed him as I wanted to make the most of the first hour after birth when babies are supposed to be most alert which in case of Sohm was more like 3 hours.
I managed to have a completely natural delivery without any medical intervention with the support of my husband, my midwife and doctor. It was the most empowering and exhilarating experience I have ever had.
