Nidhi Gandhi's Story
“My 9 months of pregnancy were the best phase of my life and I enjoyed every moment of it.”says Dr. Nidhi Gandhi, a musculoskeletal physiotherapist from Mumbai.
My due date was 16th October but had no labor pain on the day and even 3 days later. I am glad that my gynaecologist didnot hurry up and start any interventions like labor induction just because I had crossed my due date.
My contractions started on 19th October,early morning at 8 A.M.I was able to do my daily chores easily. My contractions definitely had a pattern. They came every 15 minutes and came every 15 seconds. This pattern went on till 6 P.M with pain increasing gradually. We went to the hospital by 6.30 P.M where they checked I was 3 cms dilated. Pain after that increased rapidly with increasing intensity, frequency and duration of each contraction .
Pain became unbearable by 10P.M. and I requested an Epidural, post which it became painless and i dilated to 10 cms smoothly.
I practically pushed the baby for two hours. It was a difficult and tiring phase for me. Finally I delivered at 2.16 A.M.with the help of vacuum. I had spoken to my gynaecologist for me to have the baby skin to skin immediately after birth and delay cord clamping.I was happy to have both of that.
It all was worth after seeing the baby.He cried immediately after birth and weighed 3.56 kgs. All’s well that ends well.
Birth N Beyond’s Lamaze Education Series definitely helped me. During my active phase i did everything from hot shower to massages to different positions to walking through the corridor.It helped me tremendously. Since my husband also attended the birthing lectures he stood by me and supported me during my contractions. He was well versed with what to expect and what to do to help me during pain.
Sincere thanks to Dr.Dhwani Shah for connecting us to the world of childbirth education through Birth N Beyond’s Lamaze Education Series. The coping strategies helped me pull it through. I had spoken to my gynaecologist about the Breast crawl and Delayed cord Clamping beforehand that I learnt during the lectures and managed to get that.