The Birthplace Tales: And They Arrive!

As the big day for Gunjan and Yash just stood on the threshold, here’s how Suhaani and Yuvaan made their grand entry..

Being pregnant is great as all the excitement of holding your child makes time fly past. Meeting your baby for the first time, just looking at them in awe, in utter disbelief that you created them - there are perhaps no apt words coined to describe this feeling. But then, between these two wonderful phases, there is one nerve-wracking time when the transition from pregnancy to parenting happens.

The D-Day, or the day of the delivery!

26th Jan, 2018

If you were to ask either Gunjan or Yash as to what the most important day of their lives would be, this is the day both of them will answer with in chorus. There are several milestone days in every person’s lives - first job, first promotion, meeting their significant others and even marriage - but everything becomes a blurred event the moment they have children. Gunjan and Yash are no different, especially considering all the physical and emotional challenges that they underwent.

Dr. Pratibha Narayan is a Senior Obstetrician and Gynecologist at the Birthplace. In addition to her passion for obstetrics and preventive women's health, she an expert with many years of experience in VBAC. She excels and specializes in managing and treating routine and high-risk pregnancies, and recurrent pregnancy losses. She is also an expert in Cosmetic and aesthetic gynaecology.

To know more or to meet Dr. Pratibha, please call 040-45208108.

On the morning of 26th January, as the rest of the nation was busy wearing its patriotic skin, Gunjan had a different celebration awaiting. At 34 weeks, she knew that it wouldn’t be too long before her two bundles of sheer joy would be in her arms. But, before that, she had to pull off, in what would be the bravest stint of her life - delivery.

The Pre-Delivery Moments

Twin pregnancies are a real challenge. That’s why, if you are expecting twins or multiples, which is a routine outcome of In-Vitro Fertilisation and other assisted reproduction techniques, then you should consider consulting with the best.

Thankfully for Gunjan and Yash, they had found someone downright trustworthy in Dr Pratibha Narayan, an Ob/Gyn with years of rich experience in handling high risk pregnancies and deliveries. It wasn’t just her medical expertise that attracted the couple towards her; it was her thorough professionalism and motherly warmth that made them feel at ease.

Even though Dr Pratibha understood that twin pregnancies normally warrant for a cesarean delivery, she did what she does best. She knew there was no need for her to put Gunjan through the risks associated with an unnecessary c-section delivery, so she spoke to the couple and explained the pros and cons of trying for a vaginal birth. 

The Challenge

Even though Gunjan had a smooth and routine pregnancy all through the nine months, when it finally came to gearing up for the delivery, there was a slight hitch. Her first twin was all set to make a healthy arrival into this world, taking position and ready for a normal delivery. But, the second twin was not too keen, locked up at breech position.

So, what exactly are we talking about here?

The ideal and natural position for a baby just before birth is head down, in which case, the baby’s head, the biggest part, is delivered first, making the rest of the delivery quite routine. However, some babies do not turn around with their heads facing downwards till about the 35th or 36th week. In most cases, the babies are still expected to turn around, but some just don’t. When either the baby’s bottom or feet face downwards after the 36th week, that’s when doctors medically term the baby as being breech.

What Makes It Difficult?

Breech babies make for slightly difficult deliveries. Like Dr Pratibha explains, the baby’s head being a bony structure, which is best delivered first. However, in the case of a breech baby, either the feet or the bottom are delivered first, leaving the head inside. When delivered after the legs and the body, the head is unable to mould itself through the vaginal passage.

Once the rest of the baby is out, an obstetrician just has a minute’s time to deliver the baby, failing which, there is a risk of injury and a condition called Erb’s Paralysis, where the group of nerves in the hand are damaged, leading to paralysis.

With some risks that are significant, it all depends on the doctor’s skills and the comfort of the parents in choosing their options. It isn’t uncommon for breech babies to be delivered vaginally, but many prefer going in for c-sections.  

The Choice

Dr Pratibha has always been an advocate of normal deliveries, of course, after weighing all the pros and cons. With her assessment making her believe that a vaginal delivery was an absolute possibility in Gunjan’s case, she had a detailed session with them, explaining why she felt that a vaginal delivery could be opted for. Dr Pratibha, a firm believer of giving the parents-to-be all the options, and going by consent, prefers the patients to play an active role in decision making, keeping her recommendations very clear.

When the option of vaginal birth was presented to Gunjan and Yash, they could not believe that they could opt for a normal delivery. While they did have their anxiety, the bond that they had formed with Dr Pratibha over the nine months comforted them and made them believe that she could indeed pull it off. In fact, Dr Pratibha’s confidence rubbed off on Yash too, as he was all set to witness his babies being born.

The Birth

The next few hours just borrowed a pair of wings and flew by. Even though Gunjan says that the three-four hours before delivery were painful, she feels it was worth every bit. Knowing Gunjan’s limited threshold for pain, Yash says his first experience in the labour room turned out to be more than just seeing the delivery of his children. His respect towards Gunjan and all women in general increased manifold.

Thanks to Dr Pratibha’s deft hands, even though at a few moments during the delivery when Gunjan’s body was giving up due to the sheer exhaustion of already delivering a baby and pushing for the second one, there was no complication at all. Dr Pratibha kept encouraging Gunjan to push and ultimately, even the baby in breech position was born without too many hitches!

The Trio Feat!

Like mentioned above, parents-to-be generally make decisions based on a lot of parameters, one of them being to do with the obstetrician. They had complete faith in Dr Pratibha and the fact that she had managed to deliver twin babies vaginally in the past just made them believe that nothing would go wrong. In fact, of all the many things that happened, there was also a feat that Dr Pratibha had achieved. Suhaani and Yuvaan - the newborn twins - completed a trio for her. Dr Pratibha had successfully delivered a pair of twin girls, twin boys and now, a boy and a girl!

What Next?  

Even as Gunjan and Yash couldn’t take their eyes off their new arrivals, they knew their lives would change in the most beautiful way. In the next blog, the final one of this series, we will talk about how having the right medical support can change the way pregnancies and deliveries are experienced and why the relationship between the doctors at the Birthplace and the patients is a forever one.