Annapoorani's Labour and Birth Story

Here is the story of the birth of my beautiful daughter and the events leading up to it.

DURING PREGNANCY(Before Labour):

Pregnancy is a boon for woman and I was also on my family way. My previous (first) pregnancy lasted for only 2 months and so everyone at home this time asked me to be at rest. They made me sit, stand, stretch legs, turn around very slowly and cautiously. I am a person who runs after work with no rest and being at rest induced a stress.
My gynaecologist Dr. Anita asked me to go to Dr.Amba for pregnancy classes and she consistently told that you won’t get back pain after delivery if you go to her class. My hubby and I were not sure in going to such prenatal classes. He told I will make u walk do work etc...for normal delivery. After 3 months of pregnancy my hub made a call to Dr.Amba and was enquiring about classes. Am sure she would have faced plenty of questions :)
After some discussion, we thought “Lets go to the classes and see”. We made a walk from our home to the class.

Her first class was about pregnancy myths food and nutrition .After that she made us do simple exercises. After my loss of first pregnancy, even if I walk for 10 mts, I would get a back pain. At the end of exercise class, I got some relief in back pain. I told my hub back pain is fading away after the exercise classes. This gave me confidence and drove us to attend classes further.
Now I was able to sit stand turn around with confidence and no fear. Initially, every morning I did exercises for a count of 5 then gradually increased to 10 to 20.Whenever my body aches the exercises helped me to relieve from pain and leads to HAPPY PREGNANACY and not FEARFUL PREGNANCY.

HOW LABOR CAME???

Feb 22 At 11.30 PM I had a light bleeding and we rushed to hospital immediately. Dr. Anita examined me and she told uterus is closed so stay at home and let’s wait for pain naturally. The next day morning at 5 am I had light contractions that lasted for 15 secs with bleeding. My hub called Dr.Amba and asked her about how the contraction will be....and she replied it will pull stomach in and also she asked me to note how many contractions I get in an hour .But whenever I got contractions, I was doing slow breathing but later I understood from Amba that this is not the time to use the breathing techniques and she asked me to allow the baby to do its work. I had nearly 5 to 6 contractions in hour. 
On Feb 23, at 11 AM as bleeding was still present, I was admitted in hospital. Dr. Anita checked my baby fetal rate and it was fine. She told lets wait for pain to naturally come and I was in hospital the whole night. Dr. Amba asked me to take a walk the night and also asked me to try some techniques so that pain gets induced naturally. I had a walk in hospital by taking long steps and this time contractions lasted for 45 to 50 secs. Every nurse in hospital told it’s not necessary to take long steps just walk a little. I didn’t hear their words, since I learnt in class how to walk during labor. I was unable to sleep at night due to contractions, but I was able to handle them by using different positions taught in class.
On Feb24, at 5 AM, my hubby made a call to Amba mam for labor support. She arrived immediately and she made me relax. My whole body was completely relaxed. My hub was to right of me and Amba was to the left of me. To be frank before labor, I started practicing labour techniques only after a call from her a few days before labor. She repeatedly insisted me to practice the labour techniques. I had fear that whether I will have strength to push since I was thin and Amba replied me “Nature will take care and don’t worry about it”.

PRESENCE OF DR. AMBA DURING LABOR

Dr. Anita induced pain on me so that contractions were severe. I was holding my hub hand tightly and handled contractions by slow breathing. Amba was sent for breakfast. Again, she arrived and I was much more relaxed and now I was holding her hand tightly and my hub was sent for breakfast. Really you need a support person near your labor to insist you to relax your shoulders back and do breathe in and out. Amba’s presence and her words made me do that. I couldn’t see other persons such as nurse, hub or any other. No one was visible to me and only her words reached my brain. Now I was holding both her hands since it was more comfortable and I really crushed her shoulders. During pushing she gave support to lift me up and push. After a few push my healthy girl baby came out and boon to pregnancy was in my hand. 
Everyone in hospital told my mom she doesn’t make any noise at all and I was in turn telling everyone it was only due to Dr. Amba. Whenever I feel to cry “amma” in pain, her encouragement and presence forced me to do breathing and not to make noise. I had normal delivery only due to presence of Dr.Amba, since you need a correct support person in labor to support your mind to do all techniques you learnt. People nearby Dr. Amba area don’t miss to call her during labor! You will definitely gain from her presence during labor for damn sure.

HAPPY PREGNANCY HAPPY BABY :)

- Annapoorani Vetripandian

A very happy birth story - February 2015

Here is the birth story I promised.

I was woken up by my phone ringing on the 23^rd at 6 am. It was Mr. Vetri on the phone with the information that his wife Annapoorani, had lost her plug the at around 12 the night before. Her doctor had informed her to stay at home as much as possible and to reach the hospital only when the pain was intense. So far, Annapoorani had only contractions, mild ones, but no pain. I suggested they go for a walk and not worry too much. Come evening at around 4pm, I got a call saying she was in the hospital. No pain, only contractions.

So the long night went, and I greeted the next morning with a call at 5.30 am. “Amba, my wife is complaining of pain since 2 am. Please come ASAP!”. So, I donned my labour support hat and was at the hospital at 6 am. I got the mom to refocus on what she had learnt at class and we started the practice afresh. This time, no pain. She managed the contractions beautifully. In the middle of our practice, she had a contraction, but seemed absolutely fine. Once it was over, she said in a surprised tone, “Amba, that did not hurt at all”. I was so happy that she found her space and was able to handle her contractions very well.

After almost 35 hours of labour, of which 9 hours were real active and strong contractions, came the time to push. We were all ready, doc at the foot and me by the mothers side. Annapoorani and I had already reviewed the pushing twice and she did a super job. Only 3 pushes and out came a 3kg, pink, healthy girl baby. Baby cried, but then calmed down. It was such an emotional moment for mom and me.

For Annapoorani, this was her second pregnancy. The first one was only 45 days long. This was her rainbow baby. When the couple came in for the first class, they were not sure she could exercise or expect a normal delivery. She was around 45-50kgs at the start of her pregnancy. Vetri was a great support to her. He made sure she ate well and slept well. Both of them used to come with many doubts to class and go back confident.

Looking back, I feel very satisfied that they not only became confident, but Annapoorani was able to birth her baby in a very natural and normal way. I stayed with them after the birth, to initiate breastfeeding. Here too, Annapoorani’s hardwork paid off. She never felt tired or sleepy. She was all smiles and very eager to nurse her baby. The techniques that she followed during her labour made her feel more strong and less tired. Baby was also very calm and comfy in mommy’s arms. I returned home a very happy and thankful person.

I hope this incident encourages many more moms to attend birth preparation classes. In the end, if we take good care of ourselves, both physically and mentally, nature also takes care of us.