Birth & Postpartum

A caesarean is major abdominal surgery performed on someone who then has to look after a newborn. Here is what recovery actually looks like, and what makes it faster.

Induction is common, usually justified, and occasionally done for convenience. Here is how to tell which is which, and what actually happens.

A laminated ten-page birth plan will not get you far in a busy Indian labour ward. A short conversation at 34 weeks will.

India has one of the fastest-rising caesarean rates in the world, and also women who need one and cannot get one. Here is what actually drives the decision, and what to ask.

Labour pain relief in India ranges from an epidural on request to nothing at all, depending on the hospital. Deciding what you want — and where it is available — is a third-trimester job.

Most maternal deaths in India happen after the delivery, not during it — and most of them follow signs that were noticed and waited on. This is the list that should be on the fridge.

India has one of the highest numbers of preterm births in the world, and recognising labour early is what buys the days that matter most for the baby's lungs.

Nearly every Indian community prescribes forty days of rest after birth — and modern medicine largely agrees with the instinct. Here is the honest map of those weeks: what the body is doing, which customs to keep, and which signs never wait.

The hour after birth has more effect on feeding, bonding and the baby's stability than almost anything else that happens in hospital — and it is the easiest thing to lose in a busy ward.

Labour is not one event but a sequence, and knowing the sequence removes most of the fear. Here is what happens, in what order, and roughly how long each part takes.

The choice is not simply about money. What matters is whether the place can handle an emergency at 3 a.m. — and both systems have hospitals that can and cannot.