Vaginal Birth · Bengaluru
A Covid Birth, a Birth Plan, and One Doctor Who Believed Us
Aakanksha
Abhay and I were blessed with a baby boy (who’s turned 5 now) - Abhyansh, on 18th April 2021, a beautiful Sunday morning 😇 in a locked-down Bengaluru :)
We had trained for it (like our generation trains for everything!) and prepared with a birthing centre - we even considered a home birth, but eventually chose a well-known gynaecologist in Bengaluru closer to our house. The Lamaze classes, breathing counts, birth plans, hospital bags, etc. were all ticked off.
Then, during week 39, despite crazy precautions, we realised I had a fever. It turned out to be Covid, which was a shock given how careful we had been.
I did lots of steaming and gargling, though I ended up losing a lot of energy, physically and mentally. Our doctor suggested delaying the delivery as much as possible until we got a negative report, and she assured us this wouldn’t disturb our birth plan any more than necessary.
"The human body is a wonderland."
On week 40, day 2 - a Sunday, at 3 a.m., the day we were due to go for a follow-up Covid test my contractions started. We began timing them, and my water broke soon after. The intensity and frequency kept increasing, so we rushed to the hospital, and by 5 a.m. I was 2–3 cm dilated.
Abhay was next to me throughout, just as planned (though being Covid positive did cause some issues with hospital management about him being in the labour room but our doctor was a saviour; she trusted us, our preparations, and most importantly our birth plan).
The contractions continued fast and I was 10 cm by 8 a.m. Pushing took real effort, as the Covid fever had drained so much of my energy even the day before. It was an experience I will never forget. It was also turning scarier my doctor had said as much to Abhay, though I only found that out later.
At 9:29 a.m. I delivered, and had my baby in my arms - all exactly as we had planned (but with masks and Covid!)
That same night my negative report came through, and later, by God’s grace, the baby and Abhay tested negative too.