A newborn child- this little ball of happiness has the capability to change your mood as per his/her own. Your plans revolve only around this little munchkin and every move that he/she makes becomes your biggest achievement. Believe you me, a child has the full capability to transform the mood of the entire house according to his/her own and how happily we depend on a little munchkin to do so! And we bet newbie mommy, Chhavi Mittal, who embraced parenthood for the second time can totally vouch for the same! (Do Read: Jay Bhanushali Cannot Wait For His Baby's Arrival, Shares A Beautiful Picture With Wife, Mahhi Vij)
We have only kudos and accolades to offer to this wonder-woman for making us believe in pregnancy, the way we had never thought it to be. From sharing innumerous tips, her own experiences, shattering pregnancy myths and even her own horrifying birth story, Chhavi Mittal has truly carved a niche for herself in the hearts of her audience. We really look up to her and keep on revisiting her entire pregnancy journey which she had penned as her Instagram captions. After maintaining her ‘healthy living’ mantra during her entire preggy phase, it was on May 13, 2019, when Chhavi and her hubby, Mohit became proud parents to a baby boy, Arham Hussein.
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Hardly a fortnight after Arham Hussein was born, Chhavi Mittal once again took to Instagram and shared a picture of two tiny feet and along with it, revealed how her life is faring post her pregnancy. She wrote, “Two little feet that bring stability to my whole being.. Little bundle of joy who can bring the house down when he cries! While he finds his "feet" in this world, I find my feet as a new mother all over again. Sleepless nights, lots of cuddles, demanding 6-year-old, and SIT. I don't have my mom here, don't have a nanny, boy do @mohithussein and I have my hands full! #love #arham.”
In case you wish to read about Chhavi Mittal’s birth story, here are all the four chapters from the same. She had titled her birth story as “My Beautiful Hypno-Birth: A lost battle”. The first chapter read “A DREAM COME TRUE”. Here is her story, “It was mother’s day. The perfect setting to have a baby. I held the baby in till the baby gave me signs that it wanted to come out. I went into natural labour at 10 pm when I was tucking in my little Areeza. I didn’t know at the time that it was going to be my last time alone with her for a long time. Instinctively she didn’t want to leave me and kept coming back after repeated goodnights and hugs. And instinctively I knew that my long-delayed hospital stay was going to begin tonight. Sure enough, my mucous plug came off soon after Areeza slept, and I went to the hospital, all bags packed, on the doctor’s advice. At 1 am my membranes released (water broke) and by 6 am the next morning, I was already 7 cm dilated. No epidural. Just meditation, and an extremely loving and caring husband by my side.”
Chhavi Mittal’s birth story for the first chapter continued, “One of the most important things about Hypno-birthing is that the birthing experience is shared equally by the mother and father both. It was Mohit’s responsibility to allow the birth to progress naturally, controlling me in case I felt weak in my resolve for an all-natural birth, to light up my labour room with candles, incense, and fairy lights.. to play calming music, to do pain relief massages, to remind me to drink water and eat high energy foods, and to hold my hand when I went to the washroom (which was every 15 minutes I think, or at least it felt so) I even slept through some of the labour. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I would wake up every 2 minutes, breathe through a surge (contraction) and drift off again. My beautiful Hypno-birth was progressing and a little baby was going to emerge out of my birth canal and straight on to my breast. But…”
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Soon after, the second chapter followed which was titled as, “The Panic Begins”. Chhavi Mittal wrote, “At 8 am my doctor came into my room and administered a drug intravenously. Within seconds I felt dizzy, I felt weak, my throat started to choke.. and I threw up. I panicked. She said this was just to hasten the dilation (I don’t know why we needed to hasten it though, but you gotta trust your doctor). Right that second, I was thrown out of my calming and peaceful zone. I couldn’t do the calm breaths anymore. I could see my dream birth slipping away from my hands. Another thing about hypnobirthing is that it has to be all natural. The minute you start administering drugs, it becomes medicalised. Sort of defeats the whole purpose. Which is why I had shared my typed birth plan with the entire hospital staff. The head of the hospital, the doctor, the nursing staff, the paediatrician, and everyone who was remotely involved.”
Chhavi Mittal’s birth story for the second chapter continued, “Snippets: Mohit will be by my side every single minute. He will not leave even for paperwork (hence we made the entire payment weeks in advance). Allow us time. No rushing with labour. Delayed cord clamping after birth. Allow the placenta to stop pulsating before cutting. (50% of the baby’s blood lies in the placenta and the baby needs it to breathe in the first few minutes of birth, and needs the blood to come back to its body. The damage that the early clamping of cord causes is way too great). Give the baby to the mother before any kind of testing. All tests to wait for 15 minutes. There were various other small things that were mentioned in the birth plan and we were assured that all our requests will be respected. After we got the assurance we needed, we were sure that our choice of doctor and caregivers was indeed right. We put our trust in them. Because there’s no greater trust than the one you put in the person who brings your unborn to this world. But was our decision right? Only time was to tell.. To be continued...” (Must Read: Amy Jackson Enjoys Her Babymoon In Morocco, Completes 6 Months Of Her Pregnancy, Pics Inside)
Then came Chhavi Mittal’s third chapter, titled as “THE WORST WAS YET TO COME” read, "Due to the panic attack post the drug, my dilation completely stopped. I failed to go back into hypnosis. For the next 7 hours, I felt no progress. At 1 pm, I was put on Pitocin, my surges started coming every 30 sec & lasted for 2 min each. I was in excruciating pain but still determined to bring my baby into the world naturally. I started dilating again & 2 hrs later I was 8 cm dilated. But my doctor came in & said she’d like to take me for a C-section.”
Chhavi Mittal’s birth story for the third chapter continued, “I put my complete faith in her and agreed to whatever she said. But her attitude towards my whole birthing process completely shook me up. She said some things which I could not respond to at that time, but they will remain engraved in my mind forever. This person who was with me thru this journey of 9+ months.. this person who had seen my strengths & weaknesses, who had seen me naked physically and emotionally. She told me, “your labour is not strong enough, your body is not meant to do this, if you felt pain, you would be screaming, not sleeping.” That was the first time I realised that she was never onboard the hypno-birthing, to begin with. If she was, she would believe in the power of self-hypnosis. The months that I had spent practising it… I couldn’t believe my ears when she beamed with pride, “Don’t worry, I’m famous for giving really small incisions. You won't have a big scar! I couldn't believe that after all this, she thought that a scar is what I was worried about. And then suddenly, as if there was no time left, within minutes a wheelchair came to wheel me into the OT, the staff disappeared, the other doctors came, and it all felt surreal. I remember I had to go to the loo, and when Mohit was taking me, me walking at a snail’s pace due to the pain, my doctor came shouting from behind, “Abhi ye sab chhodo.. seedha catheter lagayenge.. jaldi karo”. Mohit just stared at her in disbelief and said, “doctor she just needs to pee. Please give her time”. I heard a “tch” from the background & she stormed out. To be continued...”
Chhavi Mittal then shared the most horrifying birth story, which she titled as “THE STAGE WAS SET”. It could be read as "I remember having a conversation with Mohit in the loo. He said “Baby I’m not comfortable with the way they are rushing you. You are already 8 cm dilated and have gone through the whole labour. Why now?” I told him, “I don’t know what to do baby, just that we should trust the doctor”. After all, what else could I do besides putting all my trust in her. With a heavy heart, I proceeded to the wheelchair. But I didn’t know that the worst was yet to come! Outside the OT, suddenly I was told that Mohit cannot accompany me to the OT. I can’t even begin to tell you how scared I was when I heard that. I tried to reason with my doctor that it was the first point mentioned in my birth-plan. She started yelling again for some reason. I remember wondering what that reason was. But frankly, I didn’t want to know. I just wanted Mohit to hold my hand.”
It concluded with, “I was going in for surgery, and was being asked to go without the man who accompanies me to office, to cafes, for shopping, to schools, to events, you name it. How could I go into surgery without him? He’s my support system. He’s my everything. We had prepared for this day for months together. He’s my protector. And here I was, surrounded by people who all felt alien and insensitive. I could barely breathe through my surges, and my own doctor was yelling at me “Chhavi now it’s all medicalised, this is protocol. I will not allow Mohit in my OT”. I looked at her and with tears in my eyes and pain in my voice. I told her, “doctor why are you doing this to me?” She turned her eyes away. I told her if Mohit did not accompany me, I will walk out right now. The paediatrician whispered into her ear, “let him come, he just wants to hold her hand”. And my doctor took her phone and yelled again, “I can’t allow this... I’ll have to speak to the authorities” and she exited. Later I came to know that all my friends who had delivered at this hospital were accompanied by their husbands for C-sections. They were even offered choice of music in the OT. But now, I had to fight. And I fought with every ounce of energy in my body... TO BE CONTINUED...”
And then came the final chapter of Chhavi Mittal’s birth story, “After my threat of leaving, Mohit came to the OT with me. And then everything that was not supposed to happen, happened. The cord was clamped in seconds. The baby came out crying &still was poked & prodded before being given to me. I heard my doctor laughing while pulling the baby out, “dekha? Pain-free delivery”. And then the biggest horror! I was administered a sleeping injection without being asked, and suddenly I felt myself passing out. I found myself slurring when I said, "give my baby to me... where's my baby.." I could not put my baby to the breast as I had so wanted to in the first few minutes. I slept till the next morning, waking up in panic repeatedly asking, “where’s my baby? Where’s my husband?” Scared shitless. Now, I have trouble establishing a good latch. I have stitches which hurt. I have 2 kids & an office to look after but a body that doesn't support it. I have a scar, on my soul. Will I be able to heal from this ever?” (Also Read: Chhavi Mittal's Daughter Areeza Interacts With Little Arham, Papa Mohit Wants To Record Them)
It concluded with, “But most importantly I have questions. Why was I given a drug to hasten dilation when I was already progressing fast? Why was my husband stopped from entering the OT when there was no such protocol? Why was the doctor in such a rush to perform the surgery when the NST was normal and I was calm? Why was I given a sleeping drug right after the baby was pulled out? Why was I not treated with kindness by another woman, a mother, my "care provider" in the most vulnerable moment of my life! What happened with me, is what happens with most women in India. I learnt that from the comments I got. And now I have 2 choices. To be livid, or to emerge stronger. I believe in changing destiny, and maybe I was not able to change mine. But the strength that I draw from this experience makes me want to inspire women to take back control of their own birthing experiences in their hands. To be loved, respected and cared for when they get ready to birth another human. And if you have been in my place at some point in your life, please share my story and let it reach out. And hold my hand in spreading this message of love from one woman, a mother, to another.. #birthstory.”
With no words left in us to express, here’s sending tonnes of love and strength to this power woman!
