Over the past 2 years, I am increasingly hearing the diagnosis “oligohydramnios” or “low amniotic fluid” as one of the biggest reasons for induction and/or C-Section. How do we “diagnose” low amniotic fluid? How much is too little? Do we need repeated Ultrasound Scans to determine the level of fluid? What about traditional hands-on skills [...]
This blog is inspired by a conversation I had with a mom a couple of days ago. She said that she had been induced 8 times in a 24 hour period! When her labor did not pick up as expected, she was given the option of getting induced again the next day after a few [...]
Our midwife Marianne, just posted a link to how the current practice of Obstetrics has such little base on scientific evidence .. This is something we have known for a while! The fact that Cytotec or Misoprostol is used widely by OB-GYNs to induce labor, even after the manufacturer and FDA explicitly say that they [...]
In almost all my Lamaze classes, there are at least a few parents-to-be who ask questions or have concerns regarding one or more of the routine ultrasounds that they have had to get in their pregnancy. In the last class, one of the moms was concerned that her care provider had told her that her [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]