“Childbirth in a Pandemic”
By: Dr. Ishpreet Kaur
Tags: Newborn, Covid 19, Birthstory, Coronavirus, Parenting

“Childbirth in a Pandemic”

It was May 2020, I gave birth to a baby boy. This was the time when the "deadly virus" Covid 19 was at its peak and me and my husband were living in Bangalore. Flights got suspended, markets got shut, e-commerce sites were selling only essentials that too premarily grocery things. Whole country was under complete lockdown. We didn’t even stock up the baby things till march and we had no clue how we will manage the things alone. We refrained ourselves from calling our parents or any house help due to these unprecedented Covid 19 times. My husband was so busy almost 16 to 17 hours a day with the biggest project of contact tracing app "Aarogya Setu " on one side and me carrying a baby inside my belly on the other. He had bare minimum hours of sleep during these days.

Somehow, we managed everything from hospital appointments to bookings to every baby care stuff we needed during this period.

He helped me in every single household chore. Cooked meals, washed vessels, managed groceries, laundry. Took very good care of me pre and postpartum along with his office work. He was my constant support who helped me to overcome every hard tide.

Finally, the D-Day came. Three days before my estimated due date, I got labor pains around 4 a.m that was occuring at an regular intervals of half an hour. I was feeling light contractions for about next 4 hours since i was at the stage 1 of pains. Hospital Bags were prepared. We rushed to the hospital around 10 a.m. Pains were still bearable. The pains were induced at the hospital.

While being monitored, the obstetrician walked in to see how i was handling the contractions. I was quite okay at that time. After few minutes horrible pains started.I was dilated to 5 to 6 cms. Then the doctor broke my water, the contractions started to become more intense. I could barely say anything, the doctor called my husband in and asked if i need an epidural. I said okay..

Thankfully after getting my epidural shot, i was so comfortable. Listened some music and relaxed for a while..I was all alone in the operation theatre, as my husband was not allowed to be inside the O.T during the delivery time due to Covid 19 safety measures.

Anyhow, after one and half hour the OB came in and asked ,if I could feel the contractions? I said "No"..

Although, i was then fully dilated but the baby was still very high up. The doc said me to wait for an hour so that the effect of anaesthesia wean off and i could feel the contractions and pressure.

In between the nurses were asking me time to time if i could feel any contractions..My lower body was all numb.

After an hour, i began to feel a few contractions and the Obstetrician said me to push and hold on a count of 10..but the baby was still very high. Then one of the nurses pressed my belly from up and i was asked to push hard. Oh My Goodness..it was the most unbearable time of my life. I again pushed with all the force i had and doctor finally applied her forceps, and baby popped out!!

and the doc said " Congratulations! It’s a boy. Laid him over my chest and his cheeks touched mine. I kissed his tiny forehead . I was literally in tears of joy at that moment. My heart just melted. He was exactly the same as i had imagined with a little whispy tuffs of hair all over his head. That was the most precious moment of our lives and made me realize everything we had gone through was totally worth it and we will cherish it forever.💟