Lockdown Babies: New Moms Share Their Experiences

Source: The Indian Express

Becoming a mother is a life changing experience for women, making them both powerful and fearful. , i was fearful of whether i will be allowed to step aside in case of an emergency.’ During this unfortunate time, with no clarity about the future, new lives are being welcomed around the world.

Let’s have a look at the different kind of experiences the newly born mothers have to share with us.

On May 5, 2020, Pune-based Neha — a homemaker — delivered a baby boy via a C-section at a Cloudnine Hospital in the city: “Initially, I was experiencing these mixed feelings. I was scared thinking how I am going to give birth in this environment. I even got tested for COVID-19 before I was admitted. Before the test results came in, I was in an isolation ward. Later, when I saw the room that was assigned to me, I was at ease.”

“Towards the end of the third trimester, I was pretty apprehensive. I did not know what was going to happen and the ongoing pandemic made it worse. My main fear was if I will be allowed to step outside in case of an emergency. Pass ke liye rokengey toh nahi (will they stop me if I don’t have a permit), I would ask myself. The doctors had even limited the visits to the hospital, so every day I used to check the baby’s movement myself — in fact I would do it every two hours. By the time the day would end, a new one would start and we would have to go through the routine all over again. My husband had stocked up on medicines so he wouldn’t have to go out frequently, and our doctor had given us a checklist. We were asked to reach out to them only in case something was off. Otherwise, online consultations and medicines continued,” she explained.

Chethana advises that mothers-to-be take care of their health and upon the arrival of their baby, wash their hands frequently or use the sanitizer before holding the baby.

For Mohali-based Manisha Sharma, a bank employee, her baby boy arrived just as the world was waking up to the news of the virus, in January. While a lockdown was not really in place, Manisha feared the news of this baby arriving would cause an influx of relatives and friends from near and far. “It was so chaotic and I was scared to go to the hospital. My son came into this world on January 23, and even though there weren’t as many cases in Punjab, we had restricted ourselves from meeting relatives. But it was only when the lockdown became more conclusive, did it become extremely tough. I used to avoid going to the hospital with my baby; I would call my doctor up instead,” she said.

Manisha said it was the vaccination visits that troubled her. “My son had a vaccination due on April 11. I called up the doctor and they said if I wanted to, I could bring him to the hospital for the dose — I thought of it as extremely risky. That’s when my branch manager — who was also due in April — suggested I get in touch with Cloudnine Hospital to get the vaccination done at home. This was my very first delivery and I was afraid of touching anything at the hospital, or waiting even. It helped that vaccinations happened at home and I could feed and pacify my baby from the comfort of the house,” she said.