THE NINE-MONTH WAIT: Reason to rejoice

If you’re part of a family — and who isn’t? — your membership probably falls under some specific category with a generic name. You could be father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or what have you. And as you go through life, you will be flung — whether you like it or not — from one category to the other, without so much as being consulted! A mere younger brother yesterday, you may suddenly find today that you’ve become an uncle and you may be in no way responsible for this. A woman still reeling from the shock of having become an aunt, can suddenly discover, with as little as nine months’ notice, that she’s become a grandmother.

Curiously, the only phase of one’s life which has not been given a one-word definition, is the nine-month period between the time a woman conceives and delivers a baby. There are some two-or-more-word descriptions, like ‘expectant mother’ or some hyphenated version of it, like, ‘mother-to-be’, but nothing as decisive as, say Mom or Dad.

This is perhaps because it is only a transitional phase and the world would perhaps have remained perfectly oblivious of this bit of lexicographical oversight if it hadn’t been for the sudden, if somewhat baffling, rush of activity around this particular category of people.

And that pregnant women are suddenly being showered with a great deal of attention few will deny.

Glance through the morning paper and you’ll come across news items announcing attractive sops for pregnant women. Just last month the West Bengal government launched Vande Mataram Day in the state. Part of the central government’s India Shining programme, the scheme designates the ninth of every month as pregnant woman’s day. On a sunny spring morning, as the expectant cuckoo mother hopped from treetop to treetop looking for a suitable crow’s nest to lay her eggs, her human counterpart was promised free medicines and antenatal check-ups — at an open air inauguration ceremony in Salt Lake attended by the state health minister.

Switch on the television and you’ll see commercial after commercial — advertising anything from air conditioners to automobiles — and at the same time alerting families to caring for pregnant women. The message being, ‘Is the air she breathes clean enough?’ or ‘Yes, this car is smooth enough for her and the baby in there!’

Surf the Net and you’ll have websites that cater to the needs of pregnant women popping up at you, left, right and centre. With names like mumstheword.com and 1to9 month. com, which is the first Indian website designed specifically for pregnant women, these offer tips on a wide range of issues related to childbirth — even month-wise break-ups of the type of physiological and psychological problems an expectant mother may encounter.

And, of course books galore on the topic, from those that guide you through a series of suitable exercises to the ones which point out your legal rights as a pregnant woman. The market is also flooded with hundreds of pregnancy-friendly consumer goods — from maternity bras to health drinks for lactating mothers. Some shops, for instance, Fabindia in Hindustan Park and La Lingerie at the Forum shopping mall on Elgin Road — have entire sections dedicated to maternity wear. In fact, not too long ago, model and actress Malaika Arora inaugurated the launch of a range of designer maternity wear at an exclusive boutique in Mumbai. Today’s pregnant woman seems to be having the time of her life indeed.

“Yes, there is a lot going for the pregnant woman today,” agrees Saswati Ganguly, of 508 Jodhpur Park, a chartered accountant, who is expecting her baby in mid-May. “We are surrounded by opportunities and information,” she says, pointing out that thanks to the Internet she can read stories of other women across the world who have shared their experience online and get useful tips from them.

Moreover, says Ganguly, the choice of market products that target pregnant women make life very convenient. “When I’m on the go, I can just pick up a high-protein health drink of a reliable brand off the shelf and drink it on my way to work,” says Ganguly, who, into her eighth month, is still attending office. “And I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’m getting enough nutrition throughout the day. Such options were not available to pregnant mothers before.” Families, too, are waking up to a pregnant woman’s nutritional needs and her diet is given especial attention at home.

“Though there have always been certain social ceremonies, such as the Bengali shaad (similar to a baby shower in Western countries), which celebrated pregnancy,” points out Lily Ganguly, Saswati’s mother-in-law, agreeing, “the sheer opportunity and information that is available for expecting mothers today was unthinkable before”.

It was in the year 1961 that the central government passed the Maternity Benefit Act. Enacted to help women get different kinds of benefits from their employers during the leave period, including regular salary, it indicated the beginning of a shift in the way pregnancy was to be viewed as something to be taken seriously not just by the individual families but by society.

But why on earth will a country like India, which is battling a population problem, want to woo pregnancy and childbirth? In fact, this month the Tamil Nadu government went to the extent of asking the health insurance industry to extend coverage to poor pregnant women. “It’s a question of women’s health and welfare,” explains sociologist Prasanta Roy. “As India surges ahead with progress in socio-economic spheres, it needs to pay attention to this very vital aspect of development.”

Yes, Mum is definitely the word right now. The only thing missing is a generic term. Any suggestions?