A new comforting, natural way for birth

Around noon on last Friday, I watched a full-term pregnant mother walking, sitting, squatting, after having a shower in PDU hospital, Rajkot. She was alternately smiling and bearing the labour pain, as the team of doctor and midwives spoke in gentle whispers. In stark contrast to the usual, noisy labour rooms, with nurses and doctors loudly ordering the lady in labour to push hard, this quiet labour room was surely comforting and soothing to the mother. 

Those of us who are mothers would have experienced the ‘build up’ for the delivery. Usually, the supine position for birthing would culminate in lithotomy, with the feet tied up on stirrups. Further, as soon as the baby ‘peeped out and stepped’ into the world, the umbilical cord would be clamped immediately. However, in the last few weeks, there has been a very different, special, silent, Natural (with a capital ‘N”) birth revolution in Gujarat. We have now had over a thousand babies born in a totally natural way, as we follow physiological cord clamping in various delivery points, across the state. This started at the Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital in Dharampur, leading to a publication in the American Journal of Perinatology.  Lets see what this is. 

With an emphasis on dignity of the mother, we are now respecting her choices and even the democratic choice of the baby to choose when to make a grand entry into the world! The mother is counselled and given various options of birthing positions ranging from being ‘on her fours’, the lateral position, where the mother sleeps sideways, to the lying down supine or squatting positions. As the mother approaches and is in labour, she is encouraged to walk around, sit, do some simple yogic postures or even bathe. For actually facilitating this, we have put in place gym balls, rope-ladders for the mother to hold on to, making her comfortable with gentle massage for her back, as soft music or the sound of gently flowing water is played on the music system. In essence, this method of helping and facilitating the mother and baby as naturally as possible, giving them a ‘pleasant’ experience, without the usual stress and trauma that accompanies childbirth. 

Back in the labour room at Rajkot, with some rounds of contraction, the crown of the baby was visible and within a few more rounds the head was starting to pop out. Soon, the baby head emerged fully and stayed poised for some time, as we gazed without any prodding or nudging, without any fear or fret. As the mother took a few more deep breaths, the baby head tilted and out popped a tiny shoulder, carrying and propelling out the rest of the body, too. That defining moment made me realise the true majestic, sovereignty of Nature. The mother’s face was now lit up with a quiet, beautiful smile.   It was great to taste the ‘equipoised’ creation of a new life, a new dawn as it were. Just as a scuba diver would feel comfortable inside and outside water with his cylinder of Oxygen, this baby, too was secure and comfortable. I noticed a sage baby calmly tip-toeing into this big, beautiful world of ours, taking the first breaths through the mouth and brand-new lungs, supplemented by Oxygen from the mother’s blood through the umbilical cord. As the tiny, gorgeous bundle of possibilities was placed on the mother’s abdomen, the baby started crawling up reaching out for the mother’s breast. This was guided by the tiny brain’s cognitive ‘flavour bridge’ that babies have, for reaching out to their mother’s milk. As the little one suckled, the mother relaxed. The oxytocin that her body generated would help prevent PPH (Post-Partum Haemorrhage) and push out the placenta naturally. In another few minutes, the entire placenta came out, looking like a nice, lotus bud. The adorable baby looked like Lord Padmanabha, with the lotus attached to her navel!  

While this immediate breastfeeding is acknowledged as the first vaccination for the baby, immediate and exclusive breastfeeding helps the baby by reducing the U5MR (under 5 mortality rate) by 21%, reducing cancer incidence in the mother, with a host of other benefits to prevent neuro-motor impairment in the baby, including conditions like Cerebral Palsy and Autism. The excellent team of Dr Kamal Goswami, Dr Kavita, Dr Mehul and Dimple almost created sheer ‘poetry’ with the ‘lotus’ there, under the first rain ‘clouds’ of the season, with dimpled smiles all around, as epitomised by their names, that afternoon at PDU Hospital. As I drank in the serenity, I feel humbled at the beauty and grace of Nature, and do hope we are able to carry this splendour and delight of motherhood and birth to every mother and baby on earth. 

The author is a Harvard-educated civil servant & writer, and has worked in the education sector 
jayanti.ravi.dna@gmail.com