Overview: Maternal wellness means the healthcare and mental wellness of a woman during the gestational phase or pregnancy phase, labour phase or childbirth and postnatal phase.

Why it's important to be updated about Maternal wellness?

Maternal wellness knowledge is crucial for women of all age groups as someone around us, in our family, and in the workplace is undergoing her maternal phase. The knowledge not only helps a person with self-wellness but makes a person capable of understanding the necessity of such a critical era of a woman’s life.

Globally, 25,220 women in the maternal phase die ⁽¹⁾. In India 97 out of 100000 women dies during the maternal phase ⁽²⁾. This is termed as maternal mortality ratio (MMR). Due to the fatal numbers of MMR, UNICEF and WHO emphasize understanding the reason for the mortality rate ⁽³⁾.

Reason for MMR:

· Unsafe abortion during the maternal phase because of conceiving an unwanted child (like teenage pregnancy)
· Lack of healthcare during the initial stage of the pregnancy. Sometimes the woman is unaware of her pregnancy throughout the first trimester, in such cases, if there is any undetected complication, can have a fatal effect on the woman.
· During childbirth, there can be excessive bleeding due to contractions. Childbirth is always safe under expert supervision in a hospital.
· During the labour phase, due to severe bleeding, the blood pressure can fluctuate. If it is not controlled, might lead to fatal effects on the woman.
· Lack of care during pose pregnancy.
· Skipping follow-up with the doctor after childbirth.
· Lack of self-care, like eating nutritious food or lack of sleep, can cause adverse effects on the mother.

Another important factor for seeking knowledge on maternal wellness is due to the alarming infant mortality rate (IMR). The baby is not safe once birthed! Even the infant will require adequate medical care and nurturing by the family. Globally 30 out of 1000 infants die ⁽⁴⁾.

The main reason for IMR being:

· Defect in infant body- retarded growth of heart, brain etc.
· Pre-term birth due to mother's health condition.
· Maternal pregnancy complications like – the mother suffering from gestational diabetes or hypothyroidism.
· Injuries due to complications in the birthing process or lack of care while handling the baby.
· Sudden infant death syndrome ⁽⁵⁾.

What are the stages of pregnancy ⁽⁶⁾

1^st trimester: 1 month/1 week – 3 months/ 13 week
2^nd trimester: 4 months/ 14 weeks – 6 months/ 26 weeks
3^rd trimester: 7 months/ 27 weeks- 9 months/40 weeks

*** Pregnancy can exceed up to 45 weeks if advised by your physician. This is the time you should not be impatient and trust your doctor. In case of any doubts, you should clarify with your doctor.

The important thing to know in prenatal care

You should take care of 4 things during pregnancy-

1. Obstetric care: The mother should take routine vaccinations and take her prescribed medicine regularly. Generally, calcium tablets of 1000mg and iron tablets are prescribed. If the mother has complications, like diabetes, medication will be prescribed accordingly.

2. Prenatal consultations: regular ultrasound of the fetus to check the heart rate, growth and movement, chronic villus sampling (CVS) to check if the baby has chromosomal abnormalities ⁽⁷⁾, and mother’s urine test to keep monitor infection and UTIs.

3. Diet care: Let us talk about what not to eat! Papaya, raw meat and raw eggs, caffeinated drinks (cold and hot), packaged juice. Try to eat as much home-cooked food as possible.

4. General exercise: seek doctors’ advice for exercise. Walking and yoga are recommended.

Important things to know during labour

Some of the curtail awareness about the labour phase are:

The labour phase can last from 1 hour to 3 days. You should not panic in case. Mothers should not get anxious in such cases. Seek your doctor's help and consultancy.
Bleeding is normal in this phase. One should not panic.
Mothers should always have a support system. Someone to take care of her during the labour phase and after birthing. A woman undergoes a lot of hormonal changes after birthing, hence, a little support system for the new mother will be great for her mental health condition.
It's ok to go for a C-section: in many countries like India, having a C-section baby is tagged taboo. Normal delivery is sometimes forced on a mother under labour even if the doctors have advised otherwise. C-section delivery is safe if recommended by doctors ⁽⁸⁾.

Important things to know during the postpartum phase

The most important thing in the postpartum phase is:

Don’t skip doctor’s check-up. A mother needs doctor supervision even after birth to avoid MMR.
Discuss the postpartum situation with doctors.
Clarify all your doubts from only doctors and not the elderly of your family. With time things changed and medical facilities and medical products improved. It's better to ask your doctors for bits of advice. This will only make your life easy.

Are you suffering from postpartum depression?

Don’t worry! 1 in 5 women suffers from postpartum depression. It's common!

Reasons:

Hormonal changes
Sleeplessness- due to childcare
Changes in body- gaining weight, hair loss, stretch marks
Free advice- don’t take advice from a non-medical person even if it's your family member. Seek help from your doctors. They are updated with all the facilities and knowledge.

Why free advice is harmful?

If I explain you through examples!

Some women don’t lactate immediately after childbirth. It can take up to four days for a woman to lactate. Some woman suddenly stops lactating after a few months while some keep producing milk up until 4 years after birthing. This process is individualized ⁽⁹⁾. No need to compare yourself with others. In developing countries, the mother is shamed for not being able to lactate her baby or is forced to lactate the baby even when she is not willing to do so. The science has improved now, it's ok to use formula milk ⁽¹⁰⁾.
C-section baby is fine! People sometimes shame a mother for not being able to deliver the baby normally. You need to know every human body is different. Trust your doctors!
It's ok to use diapers. Your elderly will never advise you to use diapers as they have never used them or their mothers have never told them about it due to their unavailability in the market. Dippers are ungraded medical aid for child care. Use rash cream regularly and maintain proper hygiene of the baby. Keep changing the dipper when seems to be full (3-4 hours).

Self-help tricks to overcome post-partum depression.

Self-care is the key: a happy mother will raise a happy baby. So, keep your health condition checked.
Maintain diet: Eat nutritious food. Avoid raw food or oily food.
Maintain your blood pressure, blood sugar and thyroid levels by regular checkups. This will help you gain good health quickly after birth.
No smoking
No drinking
Seek help: take help from anyone you trust. Get proper sleep. It's okay to let go of your baby for some time. This will help you to keep a check on your mental wellness as well.
Talk to other mothers. Have a support group.
Take it easy. Don’t be restless due to sudden changes in your life after the baby has arrived. Be kind to yourself and trust the process of motherhood/ parenthood. You and your baby will together adapt to each other.