She was visibly nervous shaking her feet non-stop. The whiff of pastries from the dainty cafe set-up opposite to the reception distracted her. Even as her husband was talking to the well-dressed receptionist, Sarita didn’t know what was going to happen. “I want pastries,” she declared as Amit walked back with her papers. The deal was signed in invisible ink and off they went to meet Dr. Maljini.
Sarita had ensured that she had charged her phone well - it was a popular destination for pregnant women and she knew the wait would be long. As she was in no mood to strike a conversation with Amit who she was angry with, she wanted to have her phone for some entertainment.
As they sat down for their appointment, Sarita was surprised when they were called in within five minutes. She was mightily impressed, but scorned at Amit just for the sake of it.
Dr. Maljini greeted them with a warm smile and a pleasantry, noticed that Sarita was clutching on to her dupatta, nervousness written clearly all over her face. As Dr. Maljini began speaking, she observed that the worry lines on Sarita’s face were easing out gradually. Beginning off with some routine questions, Dr. Maljini’s attempts were to get to know Sarita better and understand why exactly had the couple chosen a change in Obstetrician so late in the pregnancy.
Sarita was in the seventh month of her pregnancy when she began her consultations with Dr. Maljini. Having taken antenatal care elsewhere, it was obvious that she would take her time to settle and get comfortable, but Dr. Maljini had a bigger challenge at hand. 34-year-old Sarita qualified as an elderly primigravida. Even though 34 isn’t very old, yet, pregnancy at that age can come with several complications. Therefore, Dr. Maljini had to first ensure that there was no such issue with Sarita.
Thankfully, Sarita had a very uneventful or completely normal pregnancy. Her tests results were all fine and the baby’s growth also was satisfactory. However, like mentioned, it wasn’t the pregnancy that was the actual challenge. Sarita’s state-of-mind was amiss and Dr. Maljini’s work was cut out.
Thanks to the anxiety and nervousness building around the birth, Sarita was trying to keep herself distracted by working more. This caused a spike in her stress, aggravated by the fact that she was anemic. More than anything else, it was her extreme fear of giving birth normally that was acting as a deterrent to a happy pregnancy.
Small things had helped Sarita make up her mind that it would be good for her to continue with her appointments. With a promise that she would be treated to the freshly baked goodies at the reception counter, Sarita decided she would meet with Dr. Maljini a few more times. By their third session, Sarita was completely at ease with Dr. Maljini, confiding in her, the fears that her mind housed. Relating her low threshold for pain, Sarita told Dr. Maljini that while her entire family was bugging her to consider a normal delivery if possible, she said she knew she didn’t have it in her to push the baby out. She was not just concerned about the pain, she was also concerned about recovery.
This was not new for Dr. Maljini. Over the years of her medical journey, she has seen several women who have the same kind of fear, fuelled by the guilt of not putting the baby’s needs over theirs. While one easy option is to just go with the mother-to-be’s choice, yet that’s what differentiates a good doctor from a stellar one. To help her destress and relax, Dr. Maljini also suggested her to walk, exercise and engage in yoga.
As her pregnancy moved on without any hitches, Dr. Maljini continued talking to Sarita, monitoring her health, while talking about the benefits of delivering normally.
Coming Next:
Was Dr. Maljini able to convince Sarita to shed her inhibitions and opt for normal delivery, or did Sarita’s fear of pain lead to an unnecessary cesarean delivery? In the next blog, we will talk about how did it go with Sarita and why normal delivery is better than a c-section.
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