It was a boy, Niketa was preparing for her 'Shrimant' ceremony

Couple says they didn't know the child's sex till the very end

MUMBAI: Niketa was looking forward to her Shrimant, a ritual where elders bless the expectant mother, says husband Haresh Mehta. But her condition deteriorated on Tuesday and within hours they had lost their child — a boy, according to the records of Ankur Hospital in Kandivli.

But its sex had never mattered to them, the couple says, adding that they didn't even know that it was a boy till they had lost it. “If we had to abort a female child, we wouldn't have waited till the 20th week of pregnancy,” Haresh said.

The couple had filed a petition in the Bombay high court seeking their right to abort the foetus because it was diagnosed with a congenital complete heart block and if born, they believed, it would never lead a normal life.

Speaking with DNA on Thursday evening, Haresh said: “I had told her (Niketa) that she should go to her mother's house as it was time for her Shrimant.” The ritual is held among Gujaratis wherein elders in the family bless the expectant mother in the seventh month of pregnancy.

“Niketa was in a lot of discomfort since 1.30 am on Tuesday. Around 9 am we took her to Ankur Hospital as we had no time to go to a clinic far away or inform anyone,” Haresh said, adding that she had started experiencing labour pains and showing other delivery symptoms. She had a normal delivery later that day but the child was stillborn, he said.

“Niketa has been advised complete rest for a month. She is staying at her mother's place in Kandivli,” Haresh said.

On Wednesday, Haresh had blamed intense media attention for his wife's high blood pressure and increased stress levels that led to the miscarriage. “You know how many times we had to travel to court from Bhayander,” he said. The high court order rejecting their abortion plea took a heavy toll on Niketa and “her blood pressure and stress levels shot up,” he said.

She continued giving tuitions even in the seventh month of pregnancy and travelled by train to Kandivli. It all let to the miscarriage, he said.

Ankur Hospital at Kandivli (W) where Niketa was rushed on Tuesday morning maintained that her delivery was “natural”. Gynaecologist Dr Saurabh Dani, however, refused to speak much about the stillbirth. Asked about the risk involved in getting the child delivered as Niketa had reached the 27th week of pregnancy, he said, “Any one who delivers at the 26th week is as good as delivering at the completion of pregnancy.”

Gynaecologist Dr Nikhil Datar said given the mental trauma that the couple was going through the “miscarriage” did not come as a big surprise. “It was unfortunate but someone suffering from hypertension and high blood pressure is prone to such a mishap,” he said.

He added that the report submitted by a panel of doctors from the JJ Hospital to the high court had stated that Niketa's condition might heighten chances of intrauterine foetal death (IUFD).

Dr Ganesh Shinde, associate professor of gynaecology department at the Sion Hospital, however, didn't agree that everyday stress could have caused the miscarriage. “It needs to be a huge disaster or the loss of a very close family member to generate the kind of shock that can lead to pregnancy loss,” he said.

Rumours of a girl child
Rumours were flying thick and high throughout Thursday that the unborn child of the Mehtas was a girl. While many tried to associate the gender of the child with the Mehtas' plea to seek an abortion, experts said had that been the case the couple could have done it long before reaching the 20th week of pregnancy as the gender of the foetus usually becomes evident by the 14th week of pregnancy.