Arjun - Passport to a Healthy Pregnancy

westland ltd

Venkat Towers, 165, P.H. Road, Maduravoyal, Chennai 600 095

No. 38/10 (New No. 5), Raghava Nagar, New Timber Yard Layout, Bangalore 560 026

Survey No. A - 9, II Floor, Moula Ali Industrial Area, Moula Ali, Hyderabad 500 040

23/181, Anand Nagar, Nehru Road, Santacruz East, Mumbai 400 055

4322/3, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002

First published by westland ltd 2009

Copyright Dr Gita Arjun 2009

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-81-89975-68-5

Book Designed and Formatted by Malvika Mehra

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, circulated, and no reproduction in any form, in whole or in part (except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews) may be made without written permission of the publishers.

Dr E.V Kalyani, who by her surgical skills made possible my very existence,

Vanajakshi Padmanabhan, my mother, who in her own gentle way taught me to be fearless,

Padma Rajagopalan, my mother-in-law, who with immense generosity gave me the freedom to succeed,

Dr T Tharabai and Dr S. Neela, my aunts, who, as amazing obstetricians, have been my lifelong role models,

And to all the women who have allowed me the privilege of sharing their joy during their pregnancies.

For Arjun, Ashvin and Kavita
without whom life would be leached of all its colours.

Pregnancy is a time of great joy. The drama of a new life is unfolding within you. However, for some couples, pregnancy can be tinged with worry and plagued with anxiety. Being pregnant is a life-altering event that every woman looks forward to. At the same time, having heard numerous anecdotes from friends and relatives, many women are apprehensive once they discover that they are pregnant.

Passport to a Healthy Pregnancy has been specifically written to disseminate valuable information about the processes involved in going through a pregnancy in the 21 st Century. With technology and an array of investigations available today to the modern obstetrician, pregnancy has been made safer for mother and child. At the same time, nothing can replace the empathy and compassion a pregnant woman requires and expects from her family, friends and obstetrician.

Most of the worry is caused due to the lack of knowledge about pregnancy or, worse still, due to misinformation, myths and misplaced beliefs. Passport to a Healthy Pregnancy will place all the facts before you and help you go through your pregnancy with confidence. We want you to enjoy every moment of your pregnancy, armed with correct facts, specific information and essential details.

In my years of practising obstetrics, I have had the privilege of interacting with thousands of pregnant women. I have been allowed into their lives and have shared their joy, their tears, their deepest feelings, their hopes and their despair. The one thing that strikes me is the fact that no two women will react in the same way to different aspects of pregnancy. Every woman has her own take on her pregnancy. I have found that there are two ends of the spectrum: some women are calm while there are others who are over-anxious and behave as if they are the first ever to get pregnant. Fortunately, the majority take an active, cheerful interest in their pregnancies. With the help of their husband, other members of the family and an empathetic obstetrician, they are able to get the correct perspective on their pregnancy.

In the Indian cultural setting, husbands have traditionally been relegated to the background since pregnancy is perceived as the sole domain of women. The pregnant womans mother, mother-in-law and other female members of the family play a more active role than the husband himself. However, with nuclear families having become the order of the day and more couples living by themselves, Indian husbands too have started taking the responsibility of steering their wives through a comfortable and supported pregnancy. Passport to a Healthy Pregnancy has a chapter defining the role of husbands in helping their wives through pregnancy and delivery.

Sometimes, a pregnancy does not follow the normal, expected path. Things can go wrong. Passport to a Healthy Pregnancy helps you understand what causes mishaps and complications in a pregnancy. This knowledge will help you withstand unexpected setbacks, be they minor or major, and help you go on.

Come, learn about your pregnancy and prepare yourself for a womans greatest experience - you deserve to have a wonderful, healthy pregnancy!

Dr. Gita Arjun

Life begins with the fertilisation of the egg by the sperm. This possibly represents one of the most important processes in human biology. The fertilised egg then progressively develops into a blastocyst, an embryo and then a foetus.

During each normal menstrual cycle, one egg (ovum) is usually released from one of the ovaries, about 14 days before the next menstrual period. This process is called ovulation. The Fallopian tubes have finger-like projections (fimbriae) which pick up the egg and transport it into the funnel-shaped end of the tube.

At ovulation, the mucus in the cervix becomes thinner and watery, facilitating the entry of sperm into the uterus. Within a short time, usually minutes, the sperm may swim rapidly from the vagina through the cervix into the uterus and into the Fallopian tube the usual site of fertilisation. If fertilisation does not occur, the egg degenerates and passes through the uterus with the next menstrual period.