Pregnancy is often described as a wonderful wait for something even more wonderful, parenthood. Earlier, expecting mothers were taken care of by their entire families where the elders gave advice on what to do and eat out of their own experiences. But today, due to a nuclear family setting, couples are often left wondering what they are supposed to do. For this precise purpose, DNA organised a prenatal workshop for expecting parents where they could get answers to all their concerns and queries.
A room full of expecting mothers along with their husbands attended the ‘Baby on Board’ workshop organised by DNA on Feb 10, Sunday. The prenatal workshop was organised to help prepare expecting mothers for childbirth and the initial years of motherhood. Pre- and post- natal dos and don’ts were discussed at this workshop and a lot of myths were diminished by three of Mumbai’s leading pregnancy, lactation and childbirth consultants.
What expecting mothers should eat?
The workshop began with a session on diet and nutrition during pregnancy by internationally certified pre- and post- natal counsellor Sonali Shivlani. She gave useful advice to mothers like eating six times a day, including protein intake in your meals, taking 600 ml of milk or milk products every day for the calcium content. Lactose intolerant mothers can substitute it with jaggery, nachani, etc. She also stressed on the importance of taking supplements (only those prescribed by a doctor) and foods to be avoided during pregnancy. These include raw meat, soft cheese, caffeine, alcohol and raw eggs. She also busted some traditional myths about pregnancy like:
- Drinking coconut water can make your baby’s head bigger (No it doesn’t)
- Papaya is bad for pregnant women ( It’s not)
- Eating ghee helps lubricate the birth canal and makes delivery easier (All it does is increase the mother’s weight making post pregnancy weight loss harder).
What to do after the baby is born?
This was followed by a session with leading paediatrician, neonatologist and lactation consultant Dr Zinal Unadkat, on childcare and nutrition. She also explained the dos and don’ts after baby is born how to go about things and understanding the baby’s needs. She answered some common questions that new parents usually had. She also shared some interesting tidbits she had come across in her career as a paediatrician and dispelled some traditional myths that are often followed by families like making the baby taste honey which is in fact very dangerous for a newborn. She also pointed out that massages did not help the baby grow and should only be administered by the mother to bond with the child and that too very gently.
Breastfeeding tips
Effath Yasmin, international board certified lactation consultant held a session on lactation and breastfeeding care. She spoke about the common difficulties that new mothers have with regards to breastfeeding their baby and suggested various helpful techniques. She also stressed on the importance of breast milk and how it contained everything that a newborn needs. According to WHO recommendations, at least 2 years of breastfeeding is essential. Mothers should also breastfeed the child within one hour of the baby’s birth. She also advised mothers to stay away from formula as it was no match for breast milk and should only be used in dire emergencies.
And finally belly dancing
The last segment involved exercise during pregnancy including belly dancing by Charlotte Marchant. Many expecting women tried it with Charlotte and picked up a few belly dance moves. A mother herself, Charlotte started training expecting mothers after she felt a drastic, positive change in her life doing these workouts and belly dancing. Many of her students later told her what a smooth delivery they had due to this workout. After this fun session, there was a short, informative session on labour and delivery tips, which was followed by a Q & A session with all the four panelists. The workshop came to an end after this and happy, expecting couples left the room geared up for the most important day of their lives.
Also read
