Workshop on Pregnancy and childcare- Parents Day 2014

Pregnancy though the most beautiful stage of a woman’s life sometimes also becomes the most overwhelming also as there are too many questions, advice, tips and suggestions floating around. “Do this, not that”, “Eat this, not that,” “eat for two people”, “don’t climb the stairs”, “take rest. And sometimes this dilemma doesn’t come to an end even after the delivery. When the baby enters, again all the confusions, doubts, and advices resurface leaving the new parents, and particularly the mother, wondering whether she is doing enough for her child or not.
Based on these dilemmas and doubts, parentune decided to hold a workshop on pregnancy and the first year of childcare where the parents could interact with and get first hand information on what is right and what is a myth at such times.
For the purpose, two of the most renowned and respected names in their fields—Dr Rinku Sengupta Dhar, gynaecologist and obstetrician and Dr Neha Joshi, paediatrician, Sitaram Bhartia Institute came together to share insights with parents, give tips, and suggest a way forward to simplify pregnancy.

The workshop focus
The workshop started on time with a small focussed group of 15+ parents who were either expecting, had recently delivered, or were in the early stages of handling a baby. The parents were eager to absorb all the information that the doctors could share with them and ask their own specific queries.
Dr Dhar’s presentation opened the workshop where she spoke at length about the myths associated with pregnancy—how much is true and what to ignore and then moved onto some of the most concerning areas such as a caesarean section vs a normal vaginal delivery, what does having the cords around the baby’s neck means, and other finer details of surgery that a mother should know of.
On her part, Dr Neha Joshi, kept the audience attention with handy tips on taking care of the baby, wrapping and swaddling, the right temperature that the baby needs and most importantly breastfeeding. Some of the important insights shared by the experts were: “Eating for two is myth is pregnancy. The focus should be eating right, and eating healthy,” said Dr Dhar. “Baby catches weight only after 4 months of pregnancy so eating extra is not going to help except pile on weight on the mother. This weight is unnecessary and can be hard to shed post delivery and sometimes can pose complications for both the mother and the foetus,” she added. As per her, one should focus on remaining healthy and fit during pregnancy. She also elaborated on the benefits of a vaginal birth. “When the baby passes through the vagina, his lungs get compressed which in turn releases the fluid from the lungs enabling them to perform optimally once he is out of the womb,” she explained. Also the theory that once a c-sec, always a c-sec was incorrect and that depending on the patient, one could deliver normally even after a history of a c-sec. Dr Joshi value added to the discussion by emphasizing on the importance of breast milk for a baby as the first nutrient and anti-immunity supplement. She suggested to working mothers, the technique of expressing milk and the right way to store, heat, and give it to the baby. During the course of the interaction, she also busted some myths around breastfeeding such as breastfeeding can ruin the shape of the breasts or small-breasted women can’t feed. She categorically said “Nature has designed it in such as way that each mother’s milk will be sufficient for her child or twins and will never fall short.”
The attending parents enthusiastically participated in the discussion asking questions and seeking advice on issues such as “Is it ok to travel during pregnancy?” “is it ok to heat oil and then massage the baby with it?” The experts took each and every query and attended at length to the parents till they felt satisified.
Workshop Closure
The workshop was brought to an end with a thank you note to the experts and parents. Each expert was presented a small token of appreciation and parents too were given some meaningful takeaways in terms of gifts.
The partner brand for the event, Pigeon, too made an impression on all attending parents. Pigeon showcased its entire range of baby care products at the venue and the guests could browse through those and interact with the team. A small audio-visual clipping from pigeon also value added to the discussion bys haring with parents tips on baby care. The brand made the day even more special for everyone by distributing free samples of their excellent products and initiating a contest where int he winning parents could walk away with great prizes.
Parents Feedback
Though a small focussed group was present at the workshop, but each parent turned up to felicitate the parentune team for their commendable effort in bringing together such a serious discussion in a warm, comforting environment. Parents’ went back satisfied with the workshop and the inputs they had gleaned from all the interaction.