Monday, September 26, 2011

Why So many C-Sections

A Caesarean section or C-section is a surgical procedure in which one or more incision are made through a mother's abdomen to deliver one or more babies. It is usually performed when a normal delivery would put the mother or baby's life or health at risk. According to history the first child born from such incision was Bindusara. Bindusara was second Morayan emperor and was born in 320 BC. This C-section was performed by brilliant Indian economist and political scientist Chanakya. The first modern C-section was performed in 1881 in Germany.

If you look at the year when first C-section was performed(1881) then you can figure out that there should be few child birth cases which require birth by C-section than normal delivery. The logic is simple. Before 1881 babies were born in normal/natural way. But the facts are quite opposite to the conclusion we drew in the above lines. According to Wikipedia, in recent years the rate of c-section births has risen to 46% in China, and a level of 25% and above in many Asian, European and American countries.

In my friends group there are close to 10 couples who become parents in last 1 year. Strangely every birth was C-section. There was a 100% rate of C-section births. The story was almost same in every case. Doctor gave an expected birth date. Mother did not get any labor pain till that date. Next day doctor induced artificial labor pain by some medicine. Nothing was the result and next day Doctor told the Husband and wife that the more we wait the more is the danger. Finally with the consent of couple, Doctor performed the c-section and baby is born.

Post c-section births, both baby and mother are fine. Thanks to modern medical facilities and advancement in medical science. Though the trend is increasing and people are starting to think that c-sections are nowadays normal But the reality is something else. C-section is a Surgery and like all other surgeries it has its disadvantages. But their are other disadvantages which are different and I would like to explain them as follows:

1. If there is a c-section child birth then all the following child births by the same mother will happen via C-section. than means Once a mother has undergone a c-section then it is difficult for her to give next birth via normal delivery.

2. A lady can undergo C-section only two times after that it becomes very risky to perform c-section. So if a lady is going to become mother for first time and the child birth happens through c-section then the lady can have only one more child in future and that also through c-section.

3. Post C-section a lady can not eat normal food for at least 3-4 days and has to live on medication and glucose. This means she can not feed the infant for at least 2-3 days after the delivery.

4. C-section delivery is a complete surgery and the mother has to take complete rest for minimum 7 days for recovery.

5. From a financial point of view a C-section is very costly and the expenses are almost 10 times of normal delivery or more in some cases.

Now the question comes that in spite of above listed disadvantages why so many people have c-section deliveries than normal delivery? According to me there are following factors which can explain this trend:

1. Life Style: Modern/Urban Women have a very different lifestyle as compared to older days. Now a days there is very less physical work and very much intellectual work. Physical work results in body fatigue and results in a sound sleep in the night but intellectual work results in mental fatigue, coupled with work stress it results in lack of sleep. So in older days the ladies were more strong physically to handle the delivery of child birth where as the modern lifestyle and work habits has changed the body metabolism of current generation of ladies to handle normal child birth.

2. Money: Doctors seems to be more keen on making money. One C-section operation can fetch money which 10 normal deliveries will do. So I am little suspicious that they might be doing C-sections to earn money in cases where normal delivery could have been done. This is backed by the fact that when one goes to some private hospital, the first question asked is if you have an insurance to pay off all your expenses.

To increase the chances of normal delivery , one should consult the acquainted doctor. Ladies who are expecting a baby should practice yoga daily during the pregnancy time. Their are a few yoga exercises which helps in pregnancy and helps body to prepare for normal delivery. But before starting it is a good idea to consult one yoga expert.
There is nothing better than a normal child birth for a mother and for a baby. The couples who are expecting a baby should put every effort to make sure that the birth is by normal delivery. This effort will definitely pay off in future. In the end as old saying: Health is wealth.
your comments are always welcome :)











Sunday, September 18, 2011

Beware: media can change your right opinion to wrong one...

ON 17th September Gujarat CM Mr. Narendra Modi started his fast for the communal harmony. It was reported by various news channels. I saw the live telecast and listened to Mr. Modi's speech. It was a very good speech which was delivered in a great way. We all know that from time to time great leaders have motivated their followers with their speeches. One can say that a great leader is a great speaker and this is true with Mr. Modi.


Coming back to speech of Mr. Modi, he described all the achievements of Gujarat state under his last 10 years of leadership. He mentioned all the roadblocks, difficulties and criticism of oppositions and other people. Despite all this Gujarat made tremendous growth.He did mention this in his speech without criticizing any person, party or organization. To name a few achievements : The villages of Gujarat have 24 X 7 electricity supply, Children drop out rate from schools has dropped to 2 percent, No curfews in the past 10 years, people from every district in India have got employment in Gujarat, Crime rate is very less as compared to other states. The list goes on and on.


People from all over Gujarat and leaders from all over India were at the fast venue to support Mr. Modi's fast. On the stage were Mr. L. K. Advani, Mr. Arun Jaitely, chief minister of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, representatives of AIDMK party. Among the audience were people from different religions and walks of life. Spiritual leaders of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Parsi, Christians , Jainism were present. Overall It was a nice experience to watch such an event attended by people from all states of life. I had a good feeling that the fast for communal harmony is really paying off and if you had watched it then definitely you will agree with me.


Next day on the morning of 18th September, I got up in the morning and started reading Hindustan Times while having tea. The front page had headline " Not too Apologetic, Modi begins fast with self - praise". Below that news another news headline was " Vajpayee was warned of CM's riot role". Imagine a person who had not watched Mr. Modi's speech live and who has not watched yesterday's telecast live. I am sure there are plenty of such people. For such people what would be the reaction or opinion about Mr. Modi's fast for communal harmony.
I am sure it will not be positive. The headline "..self praise" is questionable. What is wrong if someone is telling his achievements in the age when the ruling party at center is full of scams. Ruling party can not tell their achievements because there are none. What they can tell is corruption, Notes for Votes, Inflation and praise of Madam. If Mr. Modi told few of his achievements in his speech then that is not self-praise.
Why the media or especially Hindustan times is trying to ruin the positive vibe which has started with this Fast? On the page with news at national level there was a headline " Local BJP MLA says that party leadership has clearly directed to bring as many Muslims to the fast as many possible". What does this mean ? Is it really a news? Just another line to change the opinion of readers. When you read such line immediately you start thinking that Muslims are not willing to join this communal harmony instead forcefully they are coming at the fast venue. How credible is such statement made by the newspaper. What is the MLA's name?
If Mr. Modi is bringing together Hindus and Muslims for the sake of common development then we should help him in any way possible. Also in the time when people of India are pissed off from the corruption, inflation and there is no strong leader in any major party, Mr Modi has given a ray of hope that yes India has a leader who is Indian by birth, by heart and by deeds. Mr Modi has shown to all the Indians that if Gujarat can prosperous under his leadership then so can whole India. Media should encourage his efforts to encourage communal harmony. I hope in the coming elections in 2014 people of India choose Mr. Modi as PM of the country and give him a chance to serve India.