Healthy Mother Wellness & Care

10/09/2025

Many of us go into labor with a vision in mind — calm breathing, soothing music, maybe even a quick delivery. But birth often has its own script!

Some stories are close to the plan, others take a completely different turn — with unexpected twists, emotions, and strength you didn’t know you had!!

Every birth story is unique. Every journey is valid. 💛

Tell us your birth journey!

09/09/2025

To those of us who observe & support labor, every labor has its own feel & flow.

First, of course, is the way the laboring mom is coping.

Second, and perhaps equally important is what the birth partner is "doing".

We can "see" which labor will progress and which labor will stall, based upon the partner's energy.

If you are that partner who is asking with each contraction "are you okay" or frantically typing into the phone, or scrolling away unconcerned, or talking loudly ... That labor will stall. 💯 %
Your energy gets absorbed. She is neurohormonal in labor.

So, how can you just "be" and not "do" all the time? If you "do", what can you really do to be the best help?

💫 Less intrusions: The more she slips into "Laborland", the more she will feel irritated to be dragged out of it. Questions like - "are you okay..?", "do you want..?" etc are usually counterproductive.

💫 More physical presence: When a mother is in the thick of labor, with good strong contractions which need all her focus to manage, saying "relax" can feel like throwing water into hot oil! Would she not relax if she could?

Instead offering your hand of fingers as  nonverbal strength, ensures she can hold and squeeze however hard she needs to. You will feel her strength through the power of each contraction!!

💫 When things get hard: If she is inconsolable, "refocus" her - breathe with her, or count through a few contractions. The birth energy in the room will reset itself!

💫 Birth partner overwhelm?:
Sometimes, it is the emotional rollercoaster, at others you may actually need a physical break. It is okay to quietly say "i will be right back".. and return as soon as you feel more composed to handle it. Having a midwife or doula as an integral part of your labor support team definitely helps!

03/09/2025

02/09/2025

“The window was broken, rain pouring in, the bed had no proper covering… the room was lit by one candle stuck in the top of a beer bottle on the mantelshelf, my patient covered in sacks… a neighbour had brought in a jug of water and a basin”...

This is the scene described by a young Dr. Grantly Dick-Read witnessed when he was called to attend a birth in a poor neighborhood of Whitechapel, London in 1911.

During the course of her labor, the doctor offers the mother chloroform to numb the pain, which she refuses. By the light of dawn, she has her baby. As he is about to leave, he asks her why she refused the pain relief he had offered. He describes what happens next:
"𝑺𝒉𝒚𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒂𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅: ‘𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕, 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓?’"

This encounter shapes how Dr. Dick-Read views the pain of childbirth. After many years of observing women give birth, he begins to notice a pattern - Fear contributes to pain. Pain then gets the body in a state of tension. Which in turn increases the pain. This becomes the basis of what he describes as the 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿 ➡️ 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 ➡️ 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲, in his 1942 seminal book "Childbirth Without Fear".

Our Lamaze classes explore this very paradigm in detail. Understanding the birth process, having tools like relaxation techniques & breathwork, & excellent partner support helps you to approach childbirth with confidence. This is turn, decreases fear and tension, & increases your chance of having a more natural and less painful experience!

Our next Lamaze class batch starts on September 6 (Saturday). To register, call 7207168666 or DM us.

Image credit:

22/08/2025

Dropping breastfeeding truth bombs! Learn more in our Infant Care Basics: Infant Massage & Breastfeeding Class happening this weekend (23-24 August).

21/08/2025

Let's talk about ni**le shields 🤱🏽

Here are some instances where the ni**le shield can be of great use:

🤱🏽A newborn baby latches but comes right off; baby constantly sleeps at the breast; or you have a baby who sucks but you don't feel any suction pressure.

🤱🏽Nipple shield may help draw out flat or inverted ni**les, especially when baby is having difficulty with the latch. Note: Many moms can feed without the ni**le shield even with flat/inverted ni**les. A good lactation counsellor (LC) can be the game-changer in this regard!

🤱🏽If you are having a sore or cracked or bleeding ni**les, a ni**le shield can provide a protective barrier until it heals and allows you to continue to nurse.

🤱🏽 Premature Baby: As the baby's mouth is smaller, and suck-swallow reflexes are developing, and ni**le shield can be a boon to start off the breastfeeding journey.

Yes, we would rather have the baby at the breast with a ni**le shield than a MomBaby dyad struggling & giving up.

However, giving out a ni**le shield without proper assessment of the core issue by a LC, is like putting a bandaid to a deep wound.

Using it under professional guidance after weighing in all the pros and cons, with a clear plan to wean off the ni**le shield, can be one of the important tools in a mom's breastfeeding journey!

This is why in our Infant Care Basics Class, we focus on equipping parents with teaching the right techniques and skills so you don’t have to buy unnecessary products that can, hamper your feeding journey.

To sign up for our upcoming batch, call 7207168666 or simply DM us.

🗓️ August 23rd and 24th
🕐 Total of 6 hours split between two days
📍 Online

21/08/2025

Diapers don’t have to be your only option. It’s possible to go diaper free, with Elimination Communication (EC) — you can start your EC journey by spending just 5 minutes a day!

If you are expecting or have a 0-18 months old baby and you'd like to go diaper-free sooner than later, then come join our ✨Elimination Communication Class✨

In just 90 minutes, you’ll learn how you can tune into your baby’s natural potty cues and cut down on full-time diapering.

🗓 31st August
⏰ 4–5:30 PM
💻 Online
💰 ₹1,250

DM us to sign up!

21/08/2025

"Elimination Communication" or EC is a term coined by Dr. Ingrid Bauer in 2001 for the Western world. It builds on natural infant hygiene seen in non-industrialized cultures, where it has been a lifelong tradition. For example, in India it was super common to leave the baby diaper free, such that the baby got toilet trained before 18 months of age - this was before the mass adoption of disposable diapers a few decades ago!

EC involves identifying signals for needing to urinate or defecate, using a cue sound, and guiding the infant to a potty, fostering a deeper parent-child connection and often leading to earlier potty independence.

Like we often say, "Read the baby, not the books" - EC too is an art, which requires some understanding of infant/toddler behaviours. It’s not just potty training for babies, it’s potty learning for parents too!

14/08/2025

How can you optimise your pushing efforts in labor?

🤰🏽Wait until you feel the urge to push.

🤰🏽 Do whatever comes naturally when pushing (You may or may not choose to hold your breath, you may find yourself even blowing hard!)

🤰🏽 Advocate for yourself. Tell your careprovider not to count to 10, or ask you to not make noise during each of your pushing efforts. Open glottis pushing maximizes your effort, without tiring you out!

🤰🏽 With an epidural, you may not feel the strong urge to push. This makes pushing less effective and it may take longer. "Laboring down" or passively allowing the baby to descend for a while, will conserve your energy and make pushing more efficient later.

🤰🏽 Avoid pushing on your back, especially with your legs pushed back into your abdomen. While sometimes helpful in an emergency or very prolonged pushing stage, it is not only an ineffective position - it also decreases blood supply to the uterus, and can cause fetal distress.

🤰🏽 Position yourself for comfort and change positions often. Squatting and using the toilet seat or birth stool to push often get the baby to descend quicker. On the bed, lying on your side can be effective as well. On-fours position is also great to move the sacrum out of the way.

🤰🏽Understand that initially, you may feel the urge to push during some contractions & not during others. This is fine. This might be followed by the urge only at the peak of the contraction. There will come a point where you can’t help it- your body is pushing right from start to the end of each contraction!

Here's the thing!
If you did NOTHING to help with pushing, your body would still birth your baby all on its own. Incredible, no?

14/08/2025

If you labored/birthed in water, tell us what it felt like for you.

And if you tried it but didn't prefer it, let us know why!