This article referring CSES study was published in The Hindu on The New Indian Express on 30/09/2010
As a first-time mother, Sonia was quite unaware of the joy of labour and there was no one to guide her or give strength. She went into a C-section to deliver a baby that weighed just 2.5 kg. But for her second delivery, Sonia wanted to be more prepared and try for a vaginal delivery after Caesarean (VBAC). She wanted to experience the joy and ecstasy a woman feels while giving birth to a baby naturally.
Since her first delivery was a C-section, everyone pooh-poohed the idea of a natural birth. But Sonia was determined and searched for someone who could guide her. The search took her from Kottayam to Kochi to the Birthvillage in Panampilly Nagar and its director Priyanka Idicula who helps moms-to-be enjoy a healthy pregnancy and give birth naturally.
Sonia’s determination paid off. She delivered a baby weighing 3.8 kg without even an episiotomy. Sonia says she would not have made it but for the support and guidance of Priyanka, who is a Lamaze-certified childbirth educator trained extensively in prenatal and post-natal care childbirth education in the US. She is the first Asian to win a dual scholarship from Lamaze International.
Priyanka is concerned about the growing tendency among women to opt for C-section when there is no need for it. The study titled ‘Health of Women in Kerala: Current Status and Emerging Issues’ conducted by the Centre for Socio-economic and Environmental Studies (CSES) here points out that almost one-third of the deliveries in Kerala are by C-section. It is more than three times the national rate and much higher than the maximum justifiable rate of 15 per cent recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Priyanka believes that birth is a normal physiological process. Women are strong and they must trust their bodies and babies. “We should not blame the medical system alone. There are women who opt for C-section,” says Priyanka. The birth of her son was the turning point in her life. “When I had my baby I saw what other women were going through. I saw a few grandmothers who were exasperated when they were having their grandchildren.” She then decided to assist women to have a natural childbirth.
When her son Aryan was barely 1 1/2 years old, she took off to the US and returned to Kerala after completing Lamaze course with the dream of starting a centre to help moms-to-be here. “A labour without drugs is a different experience in itself. I welcome husbands too to assist in these births,” says Priyanka. She narrates an experience wherein a mother had a beatific smile, her speech slurred and was unusually silent soon after delivery. She was her bubbly self the next day. Research told me that one may experience a natural high called birth energy where you go into a trance-like state which may be accompanied with euphoria of giving birth naturally.
“These are things that you won’t get to see everyday,” says Priyanka who is a member of the Lamaze International and Birth India. At Birthvillage Priyanka offers a series of customised classes for first-time parents that include childbirth education, breastfeeding, and newborn care, as well as weekend intensives and refresher courses for second-time parents.
Her job is demanding. When one of her students go through labour, which sometimes take days, she will have to be with them always. “Holidays are a rarity for me,” says Priyanka. She says she doesn’t know why most of her clients go into labour during weekends. “So I am deprived of spending quality time with my four-year-old son. I hope he will understand when he grows up,” says Priyanka who has an understanding husband, Zameer, a corporate sales manager with Saregama, Chennai. She too had long stints in multi-national companies like Johnson and Johnson and Transasia Biomedical after her masters and bachelors in microbiology. Her parents are her backbone. Despite her hectic work schedule, Priyanka is enjoying every bit of it. Women birth best in a place they feel safe and happy, says Priyanka who has big plans in her mind.