Birth Agni

Chhavi Mittal is an Indian Actress, model and producer who is also a mother of two beautiful children. The story of her two births was covered in CNA Insider's documentary , 'A million cuts - India's C-section Epidemic'  which is an attempt at blowing the gaff on India's rising C-section rates in the hospitals. In hushed voices, we all know it. We all talk about birth and...

My childbirth classes mothers wanted a recorded audio for Birth Affirmations. We practice affirmations and visualization in the class and they are suggested to do it as a meditative exercise on their own. This episode is a product of this request and here you can use it too. It has everything you are suggested in your birth classes about labor and birth.  This can be your ally. Your encouraging pa...

It is becoming painfully sad that despite the best preparation the obstetricians/gynaecologists are able to pursue the parents to choose Surgical births like they are selling candies. The language is usually this, 'this is just the trailer, do you think you want to take it further?' Oh even after you take so much pain, you may have to undergo surgery , then why do you think you want to t...

Sameha was waiting for her labor to begin as she was already past 10 days of her estimated due date. Little did she know her labor would be a quick one and she would have labored majorly at home only rush to the birth center when she felt the first pushing sensation. Her water had already broken and there was meconium . Now you may want to know if her hospital was close or far off. What happened w...

Nani, my maternal grandmother was always in the village, up north of India. She has six children, five girls and one boy, quite classic of the traditional households. The first two , my mum and my aunt (masi) were born in a hospital outside the village where my Nanaji, maternal grandfather was a homeopath doctor.  The other four children were born at home with a traditional birth attendant (Local...

Madhuri and Praneswara Das are Krishna devotees from Mayapur, Kolkata. Madhuri was always scared of needles. When she learnt she is pregnant which she was expecting , she was terrified on how to go about it. Initially, they did go to the doctor for checkups but there was a point when after an ultrasound they decided to do, the doctor said the liver of the baby is not functioning. This was a huge b...

Rani Didi is my house help. She has four children, 1 girl and three boys, the oldest being the girl who is sixteen now. When I asked Rani didi, how did you birth, she nonchalantly mentions, ‘At home!. We all birth at home’. Her description of labor is not too detailed but the story has a cultural significance. More so , it is empowering to see the ease in her voice and the confidence about her bod...

Becca knew she wanted a home birth and researched her options to explore what was best for her in this spiritual journey of pregnancy. In the absense of a midwifery care model around her in Kerala, she decided to free birth with her partner and went on to have a transcendental experience. Tune in to her story now to hear what was the experience with a local private hospital, the preparation needed...

If you have not heard Part I of this episode , please do to learn about the details of Namrita's empowering hospital birth that will help you connect the dots in this one.   This episode discusses Why did Namrita choose a homebirth after the first empowering hospital birth experience? What is the difference in care between a Gynaecologist or Midwife What does laboring in a home birth set up l...

Namrita's first birth was at a hospital. This was her first exposure to childbirth education and her intuitive power in Birth. She changed doctors thrice eventually to build a team that supported her vision of birth. Yet, labour which cannot be tamed, took its own twisted path. How did Namrita traverse the labor land and came out euphoric is discussed in this part of her story? The experience...

Indian ecosystem greatly lacks the wisdom to support natural or normal births. Big cities are catching up with fancy equipments , packages and rooms.  The issue of Surgical births remains big still in India. What then are someone's options to birth naturally ? I often hear women say , " I understand all that you are saying but there are no doctors here who can support me" . We answe...

Birth Education is crucial to a positive , women centric birth experience, every birth worker would say that! In India, the industrialization of birth is rampant. The wave is being supported by hospitals where the birth classes are often filtered to suit the different commercial scenarios that may be taken into consideration during your Labor. I often, still see a lot of confusion on what birth lo...

Nurturing a mother goes beyond the physical aspects of dimming the lights during labor. While that is beneficial, listening to her throughout the pregnancy, her fears, dreams, aspirations, visions and views about her new life are crucial to her feeling empowered in her body and ability to birth. Feeling held and special during pregnancy also ensures the well being of the baby. The idea is to look...

This is the second episode of the Birth Better Series which talks about 1. How Prenatal Care is affected by Fear 2. Our body's physiological response to trying to fix a perceived fear. 3. The Nocebo Effect 4. Bringing back Positivity and Spiritual Value to Prenatal Care 5. The cocktail of hormones that enable to woman to go on 6. Creating your emotional and physical birth space to go as natur...

Ask a mother what she has heard about labor and she will quickly tell you, "It is a pain that is capable of breaking many bones". "It is the worst kind of pain any human can undertake" "My mum said it was horrible." Moreso, this is exactly what is shown in movies, media, print or social because we all love sensationalizing things. Our mothers, a generation ago were bi...

The podcast has been running for over 2.5 years with over 60 episodes spread across Perinatal Education, Maternal Health and Family Dynamics. With a new name comes a newer approach to spreading awareness about Women Centric and Respectful Birth Experiences. This podcast will cover everything around Birth and Women's Health. All kinds of birth stories will be featured , stories of birth back i...

Season 3 has come to an end. It covered a full blown knowledge resource with segments such as the Bitesize Pregnancy Series, interview episodes with experts such as Pelvic Floor Physios, Sexual Health doctors, Birth Educators, Doulas, Doctors etc. As we end this season, there are various changes that are planned to come out with the next Season, major being the name of the podcast. Newer segments...

What are the secrets in Pregnancy Yoga -is it the mindfulness or slowing down?  When can a mother start yoga in pregnancy if she has never exercised before? Does Pregnancy Yoga really aid natural delivery?  Every woman has  a very different question on this , we all enquire situations and decisions from a personal need and experiences. We sit down on numerous such questions with Prenatal and Postn...

What happened when a mother in law did not let the mother feed her baby after delivery? Sanvita lying on a hospital bed waiting for the crying baby to find some comfort through her, anxious and guilty. She did not know what to do ! There was a chaos and in that chaos a Lactation Counselor was stuck with her duty to get the baby inititated on Breastfeeding as early as possible. Today's story h...

What makes a birthing experience Respectful and Positive?  Is everything out of control when you birth?  Would you rather plan things?  Do we know how a positive birth experience really looks like? Our guest on today's podcast , Dr Janhavi Nilekani , a development economist, Founder and Chairperson of Aastrika Foundation - A Nilekani Philanthropies initiative that aims to bring respectful mat...

This World Breastfeeding Awareness Week, Two Lactation Counselors, Sharadha Raman from Coimbatore and myself sit down to discuss the common breastfeeding problems mother's face and what is the ultimate solution. Sharadha is a visiting counselor with two hospitals in Coimbatore and runs her own service by the name of 'Mom's Space' , a safe forum for the mothers and pregnant wome...

Some people describe Birth as Healing , Magical and Orgasmic. Some describe it as Uncomfortable, Tiring and Endured. Others describe it as painful and traumatic. What makes Birth what? And how do you learn what you want your Birth to look like? Is it possible to have these desires and work on creating an experience? Keesha, takes on these questions. She answers for us , 'how can one involve t...

I would not be surprised when those who had immesely transformative births say that birth needs a lot of inner work, causes emotional stir and heals you in different ways. Consequently, Birth work also brings changes for the people involved in those birth stories like Keesha says as a doula the inner work has translated into various aspects and relationships of her life. Dive into the conversation...

Another episode for the Yearly Segment of Fatherhood Stories on the Podcast. This is about Postpartum Anxiety in Men during Pregnancy and Postpartum. Our Guest Today, Joshua Maze is the Dad Coordinator for Postpartum Support International, a nature connected coach and a bachelor's in social work. Joshua learnt how his experiences rounded up to Postpartum Anxiety and started helping new dads t...

Rajat Mittal is the founder of ' Boyish ' - a monthly newsletter expanding the discourse on masculinity in India.  Boyish aims to break Gender Stereotypes by talking about the impact of patriarchy on all genders of the society.  Rajat's take on Boyish is fresh and intuitive.  He is also a former co-founder of Menstrupedia. As a  Father's day special, an yearly segment of Father...