With a new city, a new job and a comfortable paycheck, Rashmi N, 27, couldn’t wait to begin a new chapter in her life. Rashmi got married to 29-year-old Rahul Sriram*, who worked for a software company, a year after she moved to Bangalore. Soon, they planned their first child. But Rashmi’s odd working hours, 9pm to 6am, took a toll on her health.
“Women who have odd working hours run a high risk of miscarriage as their biological clocks go for a toss. They don’t eat healthy, their sleep pattern is odd and stress levels are high,” says Dr Praveena Shenoy, consultant gynaecologist, Manipal Hospital, adding that an unsuccessful pregnancy among such women is more likely. “About 20 per cent of such pregnancies result in miscarriages.”
Rashmi too, fell in this 20 per cent bracket and lost her dreams to a miscarriage. “Though going through a miscarriage can be traumatising and depressing, women shouldn’t lose heart as it doesn’t imply future failures,” says Dr Shenoy. With a little care, even with odd working hours, pregnant women can take care to have a healthy pregnancy. “Good sleep is very important, irrespective of work timings,” she says.
“Even though one can do everything to stay healthy, a miscarriage cannot be avoided in the real sense as it is difficult to pinpoint a single cause for it,” says Dr Devika Gunasheela, infertility specialist, Gunasheela IVF Centre. She suggests that reducing stress, eating healthy, keeping obesity at bay and taking folic acid at least three months prior to conception is all that a woman can do to ensure a successful pregnancy.
Dr Gunasheela adds: “Most women fear the first scan of pregnancy, also called the dating scan—it determines the date of delivery. They feel that the scanning will be harmful for the baby. But, the dating scan is not an X-ray, it isn’t harmful to the foetus.” In fact, a dating scan helps doctors detect a defect, if any, at a later stage of pregnancy and cure it.
Most of the time, the reason for a miscarriage remains unknown, and it is difficult to foresee and avoid problems. “A miscarriage can result from of a combination of factors, likepollution, stress, vitamin deficiencies, unhealthy lifestyles or abnormalities in parents,” says Dr Leela Bhagwan, consultant gynaecologist, Cradle and Bangalore Hospital.
“Nowadays, women travel a lot even in the first few weeks of pregnancy but they
shouldn’t. Cutting down on travel, carrying heavy weights, intercourse etc, in the first few weeks can help.”
(*Names changed on request)
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