Pregnancy

India is the second country to cross the billion people mark. Each year India adds over twice the population of Sweden. Child bearing it would seem, must be the easiest thing to do for Indian women.

After puberty, marriage and after marriage, pregnancy remains a natural sequence for most Indian women. However, in the past four decades various factors have brought significant changes that have made an impact on attitudes to pregnancy:

• Whatever the efficiency, India was among the first countries to implement a family planning programme.

• Female literacy rates have increased.

• More women have joined organized work force.

• Urban Indian women’s attitude to child bearing is vastly different and is driven by different ideals compared to the rural woman. More urban couples are opting for childless families.

• The family size has dropped, on an average, from five to three children

• Medical technology and practice is helping couples with childbearing problems, overcome these. The stigma and hopelessness surrounding “ barrenness” is decreasing.

• Sex determination scans have brought a new, and not always welcome, angle to pregnancy.

• Reliance on medical advice and healthcare services at childbirth are being preferred to home remedies and deliveries at home assisted by uneducated midwives. Childbirth is safer both for the mother and child.

This section hopes to bring more awareness, regarding health aspects that need attention at this special time in a woman’s life, relevant to this changing scenario.

Source:

Dr. Uma Ram DGO, Dip. NBE, MRCOG

A Consultant in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Seethapathy Nursing Home, Chennai, Dr Uma Ram graduated from Madras Medical College, Chennai and had her speciality training at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children, Chennai. She has done her Clinical Research on Amniotic Fluid Index in Postdated Pregnancies. Her areas of interest are: High risk obstetrics Urogynaecology and Minimally invasive surgery.