Labor.html

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layout: default
title: Why Matrika
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<h1>Labour - The Opening Body</h1>
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	height="288" />
<div class="center">
	<a href="#1" class="sml2">Food, Drink, Herbs And Other Locality
		Available Resources</a> I <a href="#2" class="sml2">Skills and
		Knowledge</a> I <a href="#3" class="sml2">Emotional &amp; Social
		Support</a> I <a href="#4" class="sml2">Ritual and Body Imagery</a> <br />
	<br /> <img src="/assets/images/bemata.jpg" width="450" height="330" />
	<br />
</div>
<span class="caption">Taken from a charpoy leg, this rare image
	of Bemata is shown with a swastik or satiya, which represents the
	auspicious nature of birth.</span>
<br />
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<h2>Food, Drink, Herbs And Other Locality Available Resources
	During Labour</h2>
<img src="/assets/images/baby.jpg" width="300" height="205"
	class="floatLeft" />
&ldquo;If progress is slow or the woman is tired and week, we give her a
warm drink. We give a heating drink of
<em>ajwain</em>
and jaggery, or
<em> ajwain</em>
,
<em>ghee</em>
and milk. &rdquo;(Delhi)
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We give a hot beverage and feed the birthing woman hot food like
a mixture of rice and lentils called
<em>khichri</em>
so that she gets strength to push. &rdquo;(Bihar)
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If the pains are not coming then I give a hot drink of milk and
scrapped coconut to the woman to drink. Within 10 minutes the baby is
delivered. &rdquo; -Guddi, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;I give a hot drink made out of luang and
<em>jayphal</em>
. &rdquo;
<strong>-</strong>
Rukma, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
We have got brew of
<em>ajwain</em>
and
<em>laung</em>
. This hastens delivery. We also make a hot drink of milk, ghee and
unrefined sugar. This procedures heat and helps in getting the pains
quickly. In villages we get heat-producing pills (
<em>garmee</em>
<em>ki</em>
<em>goli</em>
) which are given. We also crush cloves and give her drink made of
cloves.&quot; -Panna, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&quot;We spread ashes between two cloths, so that the blood gets soaked
up.&quot;
<br />
<br />
&quot;We don't spread ashes but paddy hay.&quot; -Kamla Delhi
<br />
<br />
&quot;We explain to the family members and tell them its better to give
milk and ghee, not injections (of syntocen) to the women. If you
affectionately explain it then they understand. if the
<em>jachcha</em>
gets scared then we tell her that by giving mothers
<em>ghee</em>
we have delivered eight babies, and did not give any injections. then
they say &quot;At your time Amma,
<em>ghee</em>
was good.&quot; We make
<em>jachcha</em>
laugh.&quot; -Tara, Delhi
<br />
<br />
&quot;We give a hot drink of milk and
<em>ghee</em>
or
<em>ghee</em>
and dried dates. This procedure heats and hastens delivery. It helps
open the mouth of uterus.&quot; -Racha Kaur, Punjab
<br />
<br />
&quot;We give hot fomentation on lower back, by placing pieces of heated
coal under the cot.&quot; -Bihar
<br />
<br />
&quot;If the pains are not getting stronger a Dai puts a grass,
latlatiya or amarlatha in the woman's hair. The moment the baby is born
the branch is taken out otherwise the uterus may come out.&quot; -Bihar
<br />
<br />
&quot;If a women eats raw rice, chalk, or white clay or drinks thinned
curd, the baby born has dry skin.&quot; -Kaushalay, Delhi
<br />
<br />
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<h2>Skills and Knowledge</h2>
<img src="/assets/images/mother_n_child.jpg" width="300" height="273"
	class="floatRight" />
<br />
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<br />
&ldquo;During pregnancy,
<em>jachcha</em>
is advised to do all the usual household work, the more active she is,
the better is her delivery. We ask her to squat to do her work, as this
posture is very helpful. One will fall ill if one sits idle. Besides if
she rest all the time then baby becomes heavier and birth can be
difficult and painful. Her body stays active if she keeps herself busy
in work. However, we advise rest for women who are weak and complain of
pain. &rdquo; -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;In our time, we had normal, head down presentations. Very few
women had breech babies. Women those days worked a lot. So the baby used
to move around and come out properly. Women worked in field and would
deliver there itself. &rdquo; -Dhapo, Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Sometimes the baby moves down the seventh or eighth month. Then
we give special massage and push it otherwise the baby may be delivered
before time. During these early months it she complains of having pain
at particular place then too we message her. This may happen because the
baby is changing its position. &rdquo; -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo; If a pregnant woman complains of backache or pain in her anus,
she is made to sit on a glass kept upside down. &rdquo; -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We count the months of pregnancy according, to the waxing-waning
of moon. If here periods stopped on the no-moon day then the next
no-moon we count as one month. &rdquo; -Ramratni, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;In Andhra Pradesh, castor oil is poured on the navel. It its full
term, oil flows till the end of the womb. The size of the baby is
measured by placing the hands on upper and lower end of the
belly. &rdquo; -Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We check the position of the baby by pouring oil on the
childbearing woman&rsquo;s navel. If it falls straight, the baby is
straight; if it falls at a slant then the baby is in a breech position.
Dai keeps the oil near the bed. -Bihar
<br />
<br />
In the beginning of the ninth month I can look at the woman and tell
that there is lot of time till the birth. If the time has come out, only
then I use my hands (do an internal exam). If 10-15 days are left. I do
not put my hands. &rdquo; -Chuki, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The
<em>Dai</em>
may check the baby&rsquo;s heartbeat by putting her ear on the
<em>jachcha&rsquo;s</em>
belly. &rdquo; -Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If the contractions indicate early labor, the
<em>Dai</em>
advises the woman to keep active &#8211; walking, doing light work and
taking contractions holding onto a wall or ledge. &rdquo; -Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If while cooking lentils you keep stirring, the they will get
broken. If the pains are not strong (kachcha dard) and I ask the woman
to push then the uterus will come out. If we put pressure on the belly
from early on then also the uterus can come out. I never hurry. People
do not listen to a
<em>Dai</em>
. They say &ldquo;Do something. Use your hands. &rdquo; I tell them
&ldquo;The baby is not a vegetable. It will come out only on its
time. &rdquo; Family members put a lot of pressure to give
injections. &rdquo; -Tara, Delhi
<br />
&ldquo;In early labor, Injections can be dangerous, the womb can
tear. &rdquo; -Panna, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If the pains are mild and at intervals (
<em>ruk-ruk kar dhire dhire</em>
) then it is the beginning of labour. When contractions become strong
<em>(pakka dard</em>
), the belly becomes firm and the baby stops moving. Only then we put
our fingers into assess how much the mouth had opened. &rdquo; -Khevani,
Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
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	height="288" />
<br />
&ldquo;When the pains are not strong, injections should not be given as
the uterus may come out. One should massage her back. Her body is kept
warm by massaging her back and legs. &rdquo; -Satwant Kaur, Punjab
<br />
<br />
Many times the woman&rsquo;s body does not open fully. Then we use our
hands to assess the situation. We put mustard oil on our fingers and
stretch the flesh of the vagina very gently. We stop the moment we feel
that the mouth has opened. We do not do this many times. This helps in
letting the head comes out easily. &rdquo; -Kheevni, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We check whether the fullness of the baby been reached, that is
the head is fixed (
<em>sharer bhar gaya hai</em>
). &rdquo; -Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;When the pains begin, I ask the
<em>jachcha</em>
to walk around. I ask her to take sips of hot drinks, milk and ghee.
When pains become strong. I ask her to hold on to out. There was a woman
whose daughter got some pains the day before. The mother got scared. I
told her that of first baby the jachcha may have pains for three days. I
explained to her very nicely that everyone has to face a little bit of
problem. &rdquo; -Vidya Devi, Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;When I go to see laboring women, I do an external check up, fell
her belly to see whether the baby is moving around, feel the pulse of
the baby. Then I do an internal check up of the cervix. If the cervix
has opened to the size of fifty paisa coin then the delivery will take
8-16 hours. If the cervix has opened more then it will happen sooner. I
do this check up and give her hot drinks. &rdquo; -Kheevni, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If the cervix has opened one finger then there is still some
time. Then we ask her to call us after four hours. Often it openes one
finger after every four hours. We calculate the time accordingly. &rdquo;
-Pushpa, Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If the baby is due soon, we begin to massage the stomach with
oil. &rdquo; -Bihar
<br />
<br />
 &rdquo;During labor we also press and rub the inner parts of her thighs,
this is very comforting. We do not use oil. &rdquo; -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;First the baby moves down slowly, and then the pain starts. If
the mouth of the uterus has not opened then it will take some time. If
it is open, then tell the time of delivery. I can make out because I do
this work night and day. &rdquo; -Kisturi, Rjasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The woman sweats when the baby is about to come out. Close to the
birth, she starts sweating more. Her thighs starts shaking. Then the
water bag breaks. The baby starts coming out. In one out of 100 cases a
black balloon (amniotic sac with meconium) comes out, which the
<em>Dai</em>
has to break. &rdquo; -Mohini Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
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<h2>Emotional &amp; Social Support</h2>
The mouth of the uterus does not open fully when the contractions are
mild. At this time we can only comfort her by saying that now it will
not take much time, though we know that it may take time. -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;For birth the
<em>Dai</em>
is called secretly. Neighbours should not know about it. This is to
avoid the evil eye (
<em>nazar</em>
). When there are lot of people around then it is very disturbing and
the woman takes time to open up. From out side we believe that birth is
smoothere if there is no shouting around. &rdquo; -Munni, Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If women gather around the
<em>jachcha</em>
she becomes nervous. They also force us to give injections. These days
everybody is in a hurry. Then we tell them very affectionately that we
have delivered so many babies by giving hot drinks of ghee and
milk. &rdquo; -Vidya Devi and Tara, Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;A
<em>jachcha</em>
talks to us about things that she does not share with her mother or
mother-in-law. &rdquo; -Darshan Kaur, Punjab
<br />
<br />
We give her emotional and physical support. We help her create links
between her body and mind (Maen te sanjha kar liya). She listens to me
and even her family listens to me. Dai is like a farmer. Farmer grows
crops and feeds so many people, a Dai helps in the birth of the baby who
is a source of joy to so many. &rdquo; -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;
<em>Jachcha</em>
listens to us if we explain to her affectionately. Family members are
always nervous. It is my responsibility to reassure them. I tell them
that I can manage and will leave only after finishing the work. &rdquo;
-Tara, Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We keep our attention on the
<em>jachcha</em>
, talking with her, joking, reassuring her, asking questions and noting
the progress of labor. &rdquo; -Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We also have to be sure that pains are not for too long as this
can lead to unnecessary panic in the family and can upset the
woman. &rdquo; -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;When the strong contractions begin, the top of the abdomen has a
four finger emty space and the fetus is low in the birth canal. During,
pukka dard the woman starts sweating, she is hot and says &ldquo;Now I
am going to die&#8230;I will not survive &rdquo;. She calls for her
mother, we give her reassurance. We tell her that everyone gets tehse
pains and tell her of various women and how they coped. Tell her to bear
it and console her by saying, &ldquo; Here comes the baby, here comes
the baby&#8230; &rdquo; -kheevni, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We try to find out any possible concerns of the woman which may
be why she is not &ldquo;opening up &rdquo;. Once a woman had eloped
against her parent&rsquo;s wishes, and it was only after her father came
to the house and met her, that she was able to deliver her baby. &rdquo;
-Bihar
<br />
<br />
I was asked to come and sit in the
<em>jachcha&rsquo;s</em>
room when my sister-in-law was in abor. She was &ldquo;not opening
up &rdquo;. She delivered after I came in. The Dai said she must have
been hiding something from me. &rdquo; -Saroja, Bihar
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;the Dai deals lovingly with the childbearing woman. She explains
things affectionately, tells her to be strong and to push only when she
is told. &rdquo; -Bihar
<br />
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<h2>Ritual and Body Imagery</h2>
<img src="/assets/images/drawing.gif" width="295" height="302"
	class="floatRight" />
&ldquo;Before attending the delivery we first pay obeisance to the
threshold of the house. If the pains are not strong or birth is taking
time, we make the childbearing mother touch black gram and this is given
away. This is to ward off bad spirits. &rdquo; -Punjab
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Before entering the jachcha&rsquo;s room we worship the
threshold, the way we do in the temple. We fold our hands and say,
&ldquo;God (
<em>Bhagwan</em>
) do justice and relieve her from pain. &rdquo; Then bow near a fire,
dust off our clothes and then enter the room. By this we ward off evil
spirits. &rdquo; -Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We have a custom that the threshold is nicked, cut slightly, five
times with a small knife, We open boxes, hair and all other
knots. &rdquo; -Saubatiya, Bihar
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;All knots on the woman&rsquo;s clothing, her hair, other knots or
locks in the room are untied or opened. &rdquo; -Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;During labor, earthen pots with large openings are tied on top of
house. Her bangles, hairs, bindi, nose ring are taken off and are
offered to &ldquo;Bemeta open her knots the way we opened all her
knots. &rdquo; -Mohini, Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The younger sister-in-law is made to sit at the door, she knocks
at the door five times-then picks up some water kept there. The
mother-in-law puts her bag toe in the water and gives it to the jachcha
to drink. She abuses (
<em>gaalis</em>
) her while giving the water. &rdquo; -Bihar
<br />
<br />
<span class="default">&ldquo;Maybe the pains are not coming
	because of some blockage inside. We open the blocks inside the body by
	opening all the outside knots. Like we take off woman&rsquo;s bindi,
	bangles, hair band, locks on boxes and windows. &rdquo; -Khivani,
	Rajasthan</span>
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;In Rajasthan, a mound of wheat flour (
<em>atta</em>
for making
<em>chappati</em>
) is kept in a plate. The jachcha takes a coin and separates in into the
portions. It hastens birth. &rdquo; -Delhi
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Some jaggery and grain is kept in a plate. Then we pray, &ldquo;
<em>Bagwan</em>
everything should happen smoothly and be over &rdquo; (
<em>Bhagwan sahi salamat se chhutkara dilwana</em>
). After praying, jaggery and grain is separated into two portions by
the mother. With one portion sweet pudding is made for juchcha. The
other portion is put in a sieve and circulated seven times over
jachcha&rsquo;s head. While doing this we pray to Bemata asking her to
take care of
<em>jachcha</em>
and
<em>bachcha</em>
. &rdquo; -Rajasthan
<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We make the
<em>jachcha</em>
touch jaggery, grain and money and give it away as offering. Some keep
garlic and grain near the bed. We also pray and offer jaggery in
Gurdwara. We pray and grain near the bed. We also pray and offer jaggery
in Gurudwara. We pray so that everything goes well. We feel responsible
for the mother and the baby. &rdquo; -Punjab