September 2010
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05 Sep
A woman in Australia is reported to have cuddled her premature baby back to life, even though her doctors had pronounced the baby dead. Times of India recently carried an article about a mother in Sydney, Australia who had given birth to twins, out of which doctors could save only one. When the doctor told [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
01 Sep
In Indian society family is still considered a tight unit, even though we are witnessing an erosion of the fabric of the joint family system into nuclear family. During labor women are constantly faced with a situation where well meaning close family such as mother or mother-in-laws want to be present to help them during [...]
Posted in: Pregnancy & Dad's role View Comments
August 2010
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27 Aug
On August 22nd 2010 Healthy Mother celebrated the birth of the 50th baby at the Natural Birthing Center, The Sanctum. The occasion was made sweeter by the fact that the new mother was one of our own Healthy Mother family, Udaya Laxmi. We wish Udaya, her baby and family many congratulations and a best wishes. [...]
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24 Aug
Our next official Lamaze Childbirth Educator Workshop will be held on September 22, 23, 24, 2010 in Hyderabad. This workshop is being offered in collaboration with Douglas College, Vancouver, Canada, the world’s preeminent source of perinatal education. The workshop is open to both aspiring and existing childbirth educators, doctors, therapists, nurses, and doulas who are [...]
Posted in: Featured, Training View Comments -
16 Aug
Do not panic!! Panic scenes are only for movies! Even though we help mothers and dads be prepared for this event, we get scores of phone calls at our Healthy Mother Birthing Center from our mothers who are close to their expected due date when their bag of waters breaks. All of a sudden panic [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
14 Aug
Here is the link to the magazine
Posted in: News View Comments -
13 Aug
Many women have been told during labor that intervention is required because of Fetal Distress. Some of the reasons are genuine, and potentially leading to complications for the baby, including death. On the other hand, labeling of many situations and conditions as Fetal Distress is not only inaccurate but also premature. In this post I [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
01 Aug
More important that you think…. World over experts concur over one thing – that breastfeeding your newborn child is the best birthday present you can possibly give. This being the World Breastfeeding Week, I want to emphasize this important fact that there is no substitute for mothers milk, especially during the first year of your [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments
July 2010
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28 Jul
Many of our customers ask us “What is Birth Energy” that midwives talk about? The answer to the question is both easy and extremely difficult. Birth energy is felt, and seldom seen. As nature’s narcotics, the powerful Endorphins hormones transport the mother to a different different world during the active stage of labor, she goes [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
28 Jul
This headline screamed in Page 2 of today’s Times of India, Hyderabad edition. While many readers may be surprised, this news has been a common fact for many years now. Since the time when Healthy Mother was founded we ourselves have seen c-section rates around 70% in most hospitals, including some of the large corporate [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
20 Jul
Wikipedia defines Meconium as the “earliest stools of an infant”. As opposed to later feces, Meconium has no odor, and is sterile. According to studies, babies pass Meconium during their 12th to 41st weeks in mother’s uterus, with most occuring between the 15th and 41st weeks. Typically, it is thick, sticky and green/black in color. [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments
June 2010
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28 Jun
For nine months the baby experiences life in the mother’s womb and gradually becomes tuned to happenings surrounding it. His mother and father’s voices, sounds of various “things”, emotions of his mother, effects of mother’s diet or medications, all are experienced by the baby. As he gets ready to leave the familiar “home” which is [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
18 Jun
Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to talk to several moms who have had a previous C-section, and want to try for a natural birth the second time around. In fact, we have helped some of these women birth their second baby naturally at our Healthy Mother Birthing Center. One of [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
13 Jun
This is a long post….. Exactly 12 days back at 11:30 pm on 1/6/2010, a baby boy was born to one of our moms at our Healthy Mother Birthing Center, the Sanctum. That he was born after almost 15 hours after mom’s bag of waters (BOW) broke, or that he was born with a nuchal [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
10 Jun
An recent study conducted by Professor Patricia Conway of the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of New South Wales, said babies born naturally received protective bacteria as they passed through mother’s birth canal during delivery. Numerous studies before this one have proven this fact. The study reinforces the importance of good [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
08 Jun
A couple of days ago I received an email from Kathy Petersen about an article that appeared here. The article made me stop and re-read, if nothing else, for the immense implication it could potentially have on the study of Autism. While, you can read the article by following the link above, I will try [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments -
05 Jun
One fine day I got an email from the founders of the website www.yourstory.in, a leading portal that highlights entrepreneurs and gives voice to the work that they do. It was gratifying to be able to articulate to a wider audience about the work that we do and so thanks to all for the wonderful [...]
Posted in: News View Comments
April 2010
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05 Apr
When I initially started helping moms birth their babies, I did not believe in numbers, sequences, patterns .. etc. The more births I attend, the more I am convinced that the energies that we as practitioners bring into a birth, has a potential of making an immense difference in the family’s birth experience. So, sometimes [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories, Water birth View Comments
March 2010
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30 Mar
So I was going to write something on the benefits of cord clamping to your baby and how it may or may not affect your choice about cord blood banking – a hot topic these days! In the process of looking for a few good studies to quote, I found this fabulous website! “Why re-invent [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments -
17 Mar
A Most Wondrous Water Birth …. Invigorating …. that’s the word I feel like using this morning as I write this blog. The power that comes to women when they birth their babies, also permeates and makes those of us who assist labor feel invigorated! Our mom had gone past her due date (41 weeks) [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories, Water birth View Comments -
11 Mar
I’m back in Hyderabad after spending a couple of days at a birth workshop in Goa led by Elena Tonetti Vladimirova, a wonderful and wise woman (see link below). The workshop filled me with even more inspiration about birth as a natural, beautiful, intelligent process. It reaffirmed my awareness of the incomparable benefits that it [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments
February 2010
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23 Feb
I come back to this blog after a while. So I wanted to find something invigorating to write about. Well, I went running to clear my mind, and also to jump start my body, which incidentally had gained some weight. And, on that first day’s run (after almost an year of finding excuses, real and [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments -
15 Feb
This is my first post after I joined Healthy Mother in Hyderabad, India. As I am working here at Healthy Mother in this new setting from that in the US, I am realizing that the word “midwife” here means something different than it does back in the US. I thought I would take a minute [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments
January 2010
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26 Jan
The Times of India Hyderabad on 21/1 carried an editorial titled “Take it Easy” on a World Health Organization report on rising c-section rates in Asian countries, including India. While the WHO report mentions that in India overall, the c-section rate is 18%, in reality, if we take the urban and semi-urban population into consideration, [...]
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19 Jan
Program Highlights Miyapur, Hyderabad Kalyan Nagar, Hyderabad BANGALORE (Please contact for venue and details) Classes are held on a continuous basis at many locations. Please contact us for details. SCHEDULE FOR NEXT BATCH IN HYDERABAD: AUG 7, 2010 at Miyapur AUG 8, 2010 at Kalyan Nagar SCHEDULE FOR NEXT BATCH IN BANGALORE: August 20, 21, [...]
Posted in: Programs View Comments -
19 Jan
Helps new mothers regain fitness, strength and muscle tone while losing weight. Program Highlights The program covers the following broad topics: Core abdominal strengthening and toning Back care and back muscle strengthening Stretching and flexibility Specific exercises to strengthen and tone hip, legs and thighs Assessment of any pain or discomfort after birth and relief [...]
Posted in: Programs View Comments -
19 Jan
We offer individualized breastfeeding sessions for new mothers or for mothers who want to restart breastfeeding their babies Program Highlights Most hospitals perform poorly in preparing new mothers for breastfeeding and newborn baby care. Our breastfeeding support sessions help mothers learn the correct techniques for breastfeeding their babies. We have successfully helped new mothers breastfeed [...]
Posted in: Programs View Comments -
19 Jan
More important that you think…. World over experts concur over one thing – that breastfeeding your newborn child is the best birthday present you can possibly give. This being the World Breastfeeding Week, I want to emphasize this important fact that there is no substitute for mothers milk, especially during the first year of your [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments -
19 Jan
Many of our customers ask us “What is Birth Energy” that midwives talk about? The answer to the question is both easy and extremely difficult. Birth energy is felt, and seldom seen. As nature’s narcotics, the powerful Endorphins hormones transport the mother to a different different world during the active stage of labor, she goes [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments -
19 Jan
This headline screamed in Page 2 of today’s Times of India, Hyderabad edition. While many readers may be surprised, this news has been a common fact for many years now. Since the time when Healthy Mother was founded we ourselves have seen c-section rates around 70% in most hospitals, including some of the large corporate [...]
Posted in: News View Comments -
19 Jan
Latin for “a sacred place” or “a private place”. Our Birthing Center provides mothers uninhibited freedom to labor as they wish, with no unnecessary medical intervention. Mothers give birth to their babies in an atmosphere which is supportive, and caring. At The Sanctum, mothers, along with their family, cherish the sacred and magical moment of [...]
Posted in: Featured View Comments -
19 JanPosted in: Featured View Comments
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19 Jan
The singlemost important decision we have taken in a long time is to switch to Healthy Mother. Excellent support- the care and support provided by Vijaya, Erinn and support staff is unparalleled. The singlemost important decision we have taken in a long time was to switch to Healthy Mother, and we feel so glad and [...]
Posted in: Featured View Comments -
19 JanPosted in: Healthy-Mother TV View Comments
December 2009
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26 Dec
All of us at Healthy Mother were recently blessed to have supported a mother give birth to twins. Mom and dad had attended the Healthy Mother Lamaze Classes, and were very keen to try for natural childbirth. They had been seeing another medical care provider who had advised them that that with twins and a [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories, Cervical Insufficiency View Comments -
19 Dec
As I finally catch my breath from multiple back-to-back births, I cannot but reflect on a wonderful mother at our center who was trying for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After a Previous Cesarean). Both parents were wonderfully informed and intent on letting the process of birth occur as naturally as possible. I bring this birth [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
09 Dec
Hello everyone, We have been very busy with births at our birthing center, The Sanctum and our lamaze classes the past few weeks. I have some good news to announce – we now have the services of a Certified Professional Midwife from the US. Erinn Mandeville, is a midwife from Alaska and has been practicing [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments
September 2009
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09 Sep
Welcome to the new address of the Healthy Mother blog. I have moved over all posts that were in our old blog (healthymother.wordpress.com) to this address. Please visit our website at http://healthy-mother.com and please bookmark your links to this address. Dr. Vijaya
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments
August 2009
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30 Aug
It seems ages since my last posting…. But the fact is, we have been working hard on some new initiatives at Healthy Mother, ones which we hope will further the cause for Natural Childbirth and safe and healthy birth practices in India. First, we have partnered with Douglas College, Canada to bring Lamaze Teacher Training [...]
Posted in: Training, Uncategorized View Comments
July 2009
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03 Jul
In the past month we kicked off a monthly meeting / workshop titled “Transition to New Motherhood and Infant Care“. The workshop series is a collaboration between Healthy Mother and the global healthcare company Johnson & Johnson (India). The idea behind the workshop series is that many new mothers (dads), especially from nuclear families find [...]
Posted in: Training View Comments
May 2009
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15 May
An important announcement! In view of the concerns surrounding the Swine Flu virus, we have decided to postpone the Lamaze Childbirth Educator Workshop in Hyderabad to July 30, 31 and August 1, 2009. We have take this step in consultation with our partner Douglas College and Kathleen Lindstrom, with the belief that the WHO would [...]
Posted in: Training View Comments
April 2009
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16 Apr
Some very good news…. Over the past many months I have had many queries from aspiring Lamaze Childbirth Educators from all over India asking if we conduct any training program for Lamaze teachers. In fact some of my new mothers who have graduated from our Lamaze classes have been quite fascinated by the Lamaze Philosophy [...]
Posted in: Training View Comments -
15 Apr
When I counsel mothers during their pregnancy, or when they attend one of our Healthy Mother Lamaze Programs, one of the first things I assure them is that I believe in their bodies’ ability to give birth naturally. I also tell them that I will spend as much time as they need to overcome their [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments
March 2009
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01 Mar
As the new batch of would-be mothers and dads join our Healthy Mother childbirth education classes, more than a few mothers have come up to me or have called me with a myriad of questions. One such call was from a first time mother-to-be, who wanted to find out how our program could help ease [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments
February 2009
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11 Feb
Recently, I was talking to one of our Healthy Mother Labor and Childbirth program participants who had gone to her parents’ house in Kerala to spend the rest of her pregnancy. During a routine check up at the local hospital four weeks before her due date, her baby’s heart rate was seen to be fluctuant, [...]
January 2009
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27 Jan
Dec 20, 2008: Our Mom started having pains on the night of the 18th. Pains were crampy, coming off and on with no particular rhythm. Since there was not much progress in either the duration or the intensity, we decided to wait and watch, since it could be false pains. By the next morning, the [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
21 Jan
December 19th, 2008: I had known this mom since her 4th month of pregnancy. She had joined one of our antenatal programs early, since she knew she would be traveling to her hometown of Assam, in northeastern India within the next couple of months and would remain there for her delivery. However, the very next [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
21 Jan
December, 18th 2008: Just around the time that our mom in Bangalore was starting to be induced, one more of our mothers went into labor here in Hyderabad. Mom and dad had attended our Healthy Mother antenatal sessions to re-prepare themselves for this birth: they already have a 7 year old boy. Since her first [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
04 Jan
Dec 18th, 2008:: This particular mom had attended my Prenatal Lamaze program in Hyderabad, but went to Bangalore for her delivery – Bangalore being where her mother lives. At the start of the antenatal program, she expressed to me that she was so afraid of labor pains, that she had instructed her sister (who is [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
04 Jan
Dec 17th, 2008: One more of my moms went into labor! This mom was extremely active, well-informed and conscientious about her exercise program. Her due date was on the 14th of December, but as mom and baby were healthy we decided to wait for labor to start on its own. In the meantime, mom practiced [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
04 Jan
Dec 16th, 2008: Our second mom had been very active till the day of her delivery. In fact, on the night before her labor started, she and her husband went for a movie where she climbed 2 flights of stairs. She was also very good about doing her birth fitness exercises she learned in the [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments -
03 Jan
I return to this blog, invigorated from having taken part in a number of incredible events, each marking a significant moment in the lives of seven members of our Healthy Mother family. Seven “Healthy Babies” joined our Healthy Mother family between the 9th and 21st of Dec. Five of our mothers gave birth in Hyderabad, [...]
Posted in: All about c-sections, Birth Stories View Comments -
01 Jan
Wishing All Mothers and their Families a Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2009. The year 2008 was exciting for Healthy Mother, as we started our Lamaze and fitness classes for would-be mothers and new moms. I am happy to inform you that two weeks ago I was awarded the Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE) certification [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments
December 2008
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02 Dec
On November 26 as we were getting ready to go to bed, I switched on the TV to catch a summary of the day’s news. And that was the begining of 3 days of horror that unfolded before our eyes. We saw how a group of terrorists indiscrimately fired upon innocent, ordinary people trying to [...]
Posted in: Motherhood View Comments
November 2008
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27 Nov
Things have been really busy the past couple of weeks… We have been busy preparing for the upcoming Hyderabad 10K Run event scheduled for November 30th. At Healthy Mother, we support such initiatives that promote health and fitness as a way of life. We are putting up an information booth near the main stage of [...]
Posted in: Motherhood View Comments -
05 Nov
Current practices in most hospitals in India separate mother and baby after birth. After a normal delivery, hospitals should follow evidence-based and WHO recommended guidelines to allow mother and baby to be in skin-to-skin contact, and encourage the practice of nursing within the first hour of birth. The American Academy of Pediatrics also strongly advocates [...]
Posted in: Breastfeeding View Comments -
05 Nov
What is needed for effective breastfeeding in the first hours after birth? First and foremost, multi-disciplinary research has shown that skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby within the first hour of birth (amongst its many other benefits), is extremely necessary to start off a series of responses – hormonal, physical, and psychological – in both [...]
Posted in: Breastfeeding View Comments -
05 Nov
Just yesterday, I got this email form one of my recent class participants. This mom-to-be has just finished her sessions, and in the meantime, visited her friend who has recently given birth in one of Hyderabad’s “super-specialty” hospitals. I am quoting her verbatim (with her permission) below: Dear Dr, One of my friends recently delivered [...]
Posted in: Breastfeeding, Medicalization of Childbirth View Comments
October 2008
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31 Oct
Recently I had the opportunity to read most of the 128-page report published by Childbirth Connection (www.childbirthconnection.org) the non-profit maternity care research and advocacy group, Milbank Foundation, a non-partisan endowment working in the health care field, and the RSG, a voluntary association of legislative leaders and policy makers in the US. Here is the link [...]
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07 Oct
The other day I chanced upon a website promoting a “5-star” birthing center. The website proclaimed that “The process of childbirth is traumatic both for mother and child”. I was stunned – is childbirth really a traumatic process? It was certainly not for me, and for hundreds of other women I know and for thousands [...]
Posted in: Medicalization of Childbirth View Comments
September 2008
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11 Sep
I have been on an unintended hiatus for the past few weeks…. Reviewing the comments in response to my posts, I am surprised that almost all questions have been in the area of Cervical Insufficiency. Why is that? Granted this experience may not be statistically significant, it got me thinking as to why so many [...]
Posted in: Advocacy & Evidence-based Practice View Comments
August 2008
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05 Aug
Two weeks ago, we welcomed one more baby into our Healthy Mother family. This story is a bit unique since mom had to go through quite a few trials and tribulations during the course of her pregnancy, but ultimately overcame all of it, and was able to have the natural childbirth that she had always [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments
July 2008
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16 Jul
The cervix is the narrow, tubular, lower end of the uterus that extends into the vagina. When you’re not pregnant, the cervical canal remains open a tiny bit to allow sperm to enter the uterus and menstrual blood to flow out. Once you become pregnant, secretions fill the canal and form a protective barrier called [...]
Posted in: Cervical Insufficiency View Comments -
16 Jul
In this week’s blog, I’ll concentrate on a concern that was brought to my attention two weeks ago. One of my moms, in her 34th week of pregnancy, was diagnosed with shortening of the cervix. Mom and dad were obviously concerned regarding what possible implication it might have, going into these final weeks of pregnancy. [...]
Posted in: Cervical Insufficiency View Comments -
05 Jul
A lot has happened this past week and I thought it would be good to put down some of the happenings for future reference, both for myself and for my moms and dads. Firstly, two new babies joined our growing Healthy Mother family. The first baby, was a healthy baby boy, weighing 3.5 kilograms. Mom [...]
Posted in: Birth Stories View Comments
June 2008
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22 Jun
In most of my labor and childbirth classes at Healthy Mother, moms- to-be are concerned about whether their baby is getting sufficient nutrition from their diet alone. At the same time, some of you are concerned about excessive weight gain during pregnancy. Both of these concerns can be taken care of, if you follow a [...]
Posted in: Nutrition during pregnancy, Uncategorized View Comments -
20 Jun
June 15 was Father’s Day. World over, Father’s Day is celebrated by honoring dads and letting them know how important they are in our lives. India too is fast catching up to this celebration, in its own way. Today I will talk about that incredibly confusing and yet exhilarating time when a man is about [...]
Posted in: Pregnancy & Dad's role View Comments -
02 Jun
By the middle of the second trimester, a lot of my moms-to-be tend to get aches and pains in various parts of their bodies. During the later stages of pregnancy, the expectant mother is carrying extra weight centered forward. To compensate for this forward weight, she adopts an unnatural posture and stance, which in turn [...]
Posted in: Aches and Pains View Comments -
01 Jun
One of the oft repeated questions that would-be moms in my ante-natal programs ask is: What is the chance of my having a Caesarean Section (C- Section), and will I be able to deal with it? While this is not an easy question to answer, research, clinical studies and reported rates of C-sections in hospitals [...]
Posted in: All about c-sections View Comments -
01 Jun
When did you realize that you were pregnant? Perhaps you missed a period, or maybe you were feeling extraordinarily lethargic, or perhaps you felt that there was something “just different” going on with your body. Once you confirm that you are pregnant, you may have started observing your body closely. This is just one of [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments -
01 Jun
Today (May 11) is Mother’s Day. What is Mothers Day for anyway? Do we really need a specific day in the year to celebrate Mother’s Day? As I see mothers all over the world juggle between multiple responsibilities to bring up their kids, I wonder where do they get their strength? Is it due to [...]
Posted in: Motherhood View Comments
May 2008
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31 May
Our older son turned 10 the other day. Phew!! it has been an exhilarating, and fulfilling 10 years.While I was carrying him we did not know much about what childbirth entailed, both from a physical and psychological perspective. Though our doctor and nurses at the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center (in Nashua, NH, USA) were [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments -
26 May
I am a physical therapist and a board-certified clinical specialist. I have practiced in pediatric and geriatric settings for nearly 14 years in the US. I have a doctorate in Physical Therapy and currently conduct pregnancy and childbirth classes called Healthy Mother(TM), in Hyderabad, India. The program builds on material taught in the internationally renowned [...]
Posted in: Uncategorized View Comments