Women’s Web is saying Goodbye! Please make sure you read this important notification.
I woke up at 5 in the evening and was only scared of one thing: Will I be able to breastfeed my son? Thankfully, I could breastfeed, and my baby latched well!
Photo by Dave Clubb on Unsplash
15th May 2015, 12.09 am. My water broke at home just when I was about to sleep. I was rushed to hospital. Being a first-time mother, it only felt like I was peeing continuously.
In 20 minutes we reached the hospital. I was taken to a special ward. I was hooked up to some wires (to keep a check on the baby’s heartbeat) and a few pipes (so that the baby does not fall short of fluids). There was one injection that was injected into my body saying, “Women these days can’t bear the pain.” I could hear it even in my lowest senses. With no idea what was happening to me, or what was being done to make it better, after 15 minutes I was told, “Everything is normal.” I was put to sleep by my husband, whose hand was on my forehead, and the other hand I was holding in my hand.
In the middle of the night, I woke up by two noises: One of a newborn who was crying, probably because of hunger and the second was of a nurse who was yelling at the top of her voice at the new mother because she was not able to feed the baby. The baby was being fed formula as the new mom did not have a milk supply at all.
From poor lifestyle to love for junk food, from being obese to being a working woman, the nurse spoke of all possibilities that could have been the probable reason for it. And in the end, mentioned a lactation specialist visiting her the next day. I was listening to all the conversation, and let me confess, I was scared of birthing my child there. But I did not have any other option as this particular hospital had my 9-month case history, and probably shifting to a new hospital or doctor would be risky at the eleventh hour.
I delivered my son early next morning, and the whole day I was not in my senses. I woke up at 5 in the evening and was only scared of one thing: Will I be able to breastfeed my son? Thankfully, I could breastfeed, and my baby latched well! The other baby was still being fed formula. The new mother could not feed her baby, and imagine the plea of the poor soul, the time she should have celebrated the birth of her child, she was made to cry as she could not breastfeed her baby. The nurse, the family, and everyone was blaming her, and I could not tolerate it. I was quietly consoling her as and when possible, but I don’t that would have worked anyways.
Motherhood is a very big decision and a tough choice that a woman makes. The process of birthing is no cakewalk, be it a normal delivery or a c-section, both are painful. Stop stereotyping mothers based on the way they choose to deliver.
And coming to the incident that I witnessed: A mother will never want her child to be hungry, she does not plan and plot it. She was helpless too; instead of trying to look for a solution, and being kind and patient with her, all that was being done was blame her for not being able to breastfeed the child. There would be some solution to her situation, if not, the formula was the solution.
I understand breastmilk is vital for a baby’s growth and there are banks where mothers who have an excess of supply do store it to be shared in cases like these; But if there is no knowledge of this service or this particular service is not available in any city, formula milk is the only solution, not blaming the new mother who herself is in a different pain.
Editor’s note: Women regularly face #MedicalMisogyny from health care professionals. For the WHO World Health Day 2023 theme of ‘Health for All’, identifying this misogyny and ensuring #Equity in healthcare is essential. All of April, we have shared stories with you on this, either personal stories or fiction. Find them all here.
A mother, homemaker, self-published author, founder, and podcast host at Authoropod. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Dear Women’s Web Community Member,
You may have wondered at our being on the quieter side during the last couple of months. Thank you for your patience, and we wanted to come back to you with a detailed note on what’s been happening at our end of things.
When we first began Women’s Web, as a blog from one woman’s desk along with a few like-minded souls, little could we have imagined the heights that it would soar to. Over the years, Women’s Web has published over 20000 stories (almost all by women), empowered countless women with the ideas, community and resources to chase their dreams, employed hundreds of women in core and project-based roles, and in the process, emerged as the OG women’s community in India. It has also inspired many others to build communities of a similar nature, all enabling women (and other-underrepresented groups) in their own ways.
Please enter your email address