{"id":38870,"date":"2010-05-20T17:21:12","date_gmt":"2010-05-20T17:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.tehelka.com\/?p=38870"},"modified":"2010-05-20T17:21:12","modified_gmt":"2010-05-20T17:21:12","slug":"babys-day-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/babys-day-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby\u2019s Day Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the age of the pundit-approved caesarean birth, says<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Aastha Atray Banan<\/strong>
\n

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Illustration: Sudeep Chaudhuri<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nPHYSIOTHERAPIST<\/strong> Swati Kumar, 30, was adamant that her baby be born before 10.30 in the morning on April 22, 2010. The usually easygoing mother-to-be adopted this firm stance on her punditji\u2019s insistence. \u201cHe told me if my son was born at this time, he\u2019d do really well in life and be a happy-go-lucky character,\u201d she smiles. \u201cMy son is lucky to be a\u00a0muhurat\u00a0<\/em>baby.\u201d<\/span>
\nSwati is one of the increasing numbers of parents who are consulting their pundits for auspicious timings and dates to give birth to their C-section babies \u2014 the \u201cmuhurat<\/em>\u00a0babies\u201d. Parents believe that a child born at the blessed time and date will be fair, most often male, and someone who will look after them in their old age. Though it may seem ironic that many of us cling to religious diktats even as \u2018modern\u2019 India blazes ahead, doctors and patients alike defend the practice, saying it promotes parents\u2019 happiness.<\/span>
\nDr Rishma Dhillon Pai, consultant gynaecologist at Mumbai\u2019s Jaslok and Lilawati hospitals, says, \u201cI did find it extremely amusing in the beginning, but if it adds to the mother\u2019s happiness, what\u2019s the harm? In a C-section, it\u2019s possible to choose a date, so let them fulfill their wish. Sometimes I feel they want me to check my watch before cutting the cord as well!\u201d<\/span>
\nBut Pai does moan about the pressure that she faces to arrange schedules that will please everyone. She also says that almost 90 percent of all C-section babies in India are born based on a\u00a0muhurat.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cParents,\u201d she says, \u201cwill move heaven and earth\u201d to make sure their baby is delivered at the designated time.<\/span>
\nIt\u2019s not just stubborn parents Pai has to deal with. Sometimes, the couple\u2019s well-wishers also join in the\u00a0muhurat<\/em>\u00a0baby brigade. \u201cOne couple had been given a strange time of 3.30 am, and I said \u2018No.\u2019 They actually found people I had connections with and made them call me! I had bureaucrats calling me up as well urging me to give in,\u201d she laughs.<\/span>
\nBut is there any danger in waiting for a date and a time for the baby to be born? \u201cAbsolutely not. We give the patients a week to choose a date from, which is ideal for the mother to give birth. Even though it\u2019s not medically dangerous, it can be very stressful,\u201d says Pai, recounting a high-tension yet hilarious incident. \u201cA high-profile, extremely wealthy couple decided on a specific date and time. I booked the operation theatre with buffer time of an hour before and after the operation, so that there was no crisis. But as luck would have it, the doctor before us had a complication and took much longer than she was supposed to. The couple went ballistic and started breathing down my neck. We finally went in with only 20 minutes to spare of the\u00a0muhurat,<\/em>\u00a0and I delivered in the last three minutes!\u201d she says.<\/span>
\nWith all the trouble people are going through to bring the sanctified\u00a0muhurat<\/em>\u00a0baby into the world, we do hope they live up to all the hype.<\/span><\/p>\n

WRITER\u2019S EMAIL<\/strong>
\naastha@tehelka.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the age of the pundit-approved caesarean birth, says\u00a0Aastha Atray Banan PHYSIOTHERAPIST Swati Kumar, 30, was adamant that her baby be born before 10.30 in the morning on April 22, 2010. The usually easygoing mother-to-be adopted this firm stance on her punditji\u2019s insistence. \u201cHe told me if my son was born at this time, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":38873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[5725,6139,6140,6141,6142,6143,6144,5975,6145],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}