Decades ago women got pregnant, carried on their work, delivered at home, got back to their domestic chores within a few days of delivery, and life went on! There were no worries of contraception, no investigations or treatment during pregnancy, and no check to know if their babies were normal and healthy! They only hoped that the delivery should be safe, with no harm to the mother! Women delivered at home with about 15% of them facing some complication which included death of the mother and/ or the baby. How times have changed over the last six decades!

With the advent of antibiotics, blood transfusions, safe caesarean sections, safer hospitals, newer technologies such as ultrasound, neonatal intensive care units, genetic diagnosis, etc. we do have better outcomes, both for mothers and their newborns. Hence, today, our main focus is on how best we can improve the current and future health of the neonate, besides saving the lives of mothers and their newborns!

Today, we want women to visit us before they get pregnant, so that we can investigate them thoroughly and confirm whether they are medically fit to get onto this 9 month journey without harming themselves, and their future babies. For example, if a woman is just marginally deficient in her thyroid status, she may have no symptoms. But when she gets pregnant, that same level of thyroid hormone is not sufficient to keep the baby healthy. She may continue to go through her pregnancy without correcting the deficiency, which may ultimately prevent optimum mental development of her baby. Or, if she has a folic acid deficiency or a vitamin deficiency, it may prevent normal development of the skull and spine of the baby. These are just a few examples where we could guide the couple on what needs to be done before planning a pregnancy.

Unfortunately, more than 95% of couples who are ready to have a baby come to their gynaecologist only once they are already pregnant!

Our advice to young people today is to plan their babies with as much detail and precision as they plan their vacations, because after all, if they do so, then life will truly be a beautiful experience with their healthy children! I think that this pre-conception counselling is as important as the entire care during and the actual process of “labour”.

There has been extensive research on the future of children born either healthy, growth restricted or premature and all evidence points to the fact, that babies who received good nutrition during pregnancy and whose mothers were well-controlled with their medical problems and remained healthy through pregnancy did the best! On the other hand, those babies who were born underweight or very preterm, had higher chances of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders when they became adults.

Keeping this in mind, I always push my patients to have the best nutrition. I sometimes over investigate, but it is all in the interest of giving the best to our mothers and their unborn babies whilst they thrive in their mothers’ wombs!

With over 3 decades of experience, we at Gynaecworld completely understand a woman’s world and are here to look after the medical hurdles that come your way. You are the center of all our efforts!!!

Book your appointment today at Gynaecworld, Kemps corner, Mumbai
Call: 02223802584
Email: gynaecworldfertility@gmail.com , gynaecworldservices@gmail.com
Visit our website: www.gynaecworld.com