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Birth Agni

Birth Agni

Author: Divya Kapoor

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This Podcast explores how indigenously Birth has always unfolded, among women - our tribe, where children could see how breastfeeding was done and how birth happened. This an attempt to fetch the stories of the past as well as bring out the new India’s Birth culture to expose the defining features in both. This shall join the dots to where the increasing problems of postpartum anxiety, rising rate of surgical births and poor breastfeeding outcomes are coming from. 

Birth Agni - Agni meaning Fire, the Fire that brings us alive, transforms us and has the ability to burn. Birth is designed to affect a woman’s integrity. It is the fire of awakening that makes her life experience wholesome. Deep down her body knows what Birth is supposed to feel - a euphoria of bringing a new life on Earth. The cocktail of hormones are designed to give her a high.

However, birth today has quickly swayed away from a phase of joy to the one marked by Fear, the constant questioning of a woman’s capacity to Birth naturally and the ugly calculation of the  odds of a healthy baby at the expense of the mother’s health. We forget that their health is interlinked and flourish as a dyad.  In India, the urban rate of Cesarean Sections on an average until 2020 is a whopping 40% which is concerning.

Birth is linked to Patriarchy, Healthcare Politics and Women’s Rights. Respect in Birth is long due to women and it affects the core of who they are. 


Join me Divya Kapoor, a Certified Birth and Lactation Counselor and aspiring Traditional Birth Attendant in the quest to shine light on what we can do as parents and a community to change the narrative. 

112 Episodes
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Season 3 has come to an end. It covered a full blown knowledge resource with segments such as the Bitesize Pregnancy Series, interview episodes with experts such as Pelvic Floor Physios, Sexual Health doctors, Birth Educators, Doulas, Doctors etc.As we end this season, there are various changes that are planned to come out with the next Season, major being the name of the podcast. Newer segments such as Birth Stories will be added. Pregnancy series with shorter episodes will continue.....List...
What happened when a mother in law did not let the mother feed her baby after delivery?Sanvita lying on a hospital bed waiting for the crying baby to find some comfort through her, anxious and guilty. She did not know what to do !There was a chaos and in that chaos a Lactation Counselor was stuck with her duty to get the baby inititated on Breastfeeding as early as possible.Today's story has been inspired by a post from Yogyata Gandhi, a lactation counselor from Gurgram, India. The story alth...
What makes a birthing experience Respectful and Positive? Is everything out of control when you birth? Would you rather plan things? Do we know how a positive birth experience really looks like?Our guest on today's podcast , Dr Janhavi Nilekani, a development economist, Founder and Chairperson of Aastrika Foundation - A Nilekani Philanthropies initiative that aims to bring respectful maternity care as a women's right to all sectors of the country through various entities, speak...
This World Breastfeeding Awareness Week, Two Lactation Counselors, Sharadha Raman from Coimbatore and myself sit down to discuss the common breastfeeding problems mother's face and what is the ultimate solution.Sharadha is a visiting counselor with two hospitals in Coimbatore and runs her own service by the name of 'Mom's Space' , a safe forum for the mothers and pregnant women to share and learn about the ways to embrace the challenges during their pregnancy and post delivery. She frequently...
Some people describe Birth as Healing , Magical and Orgasmic.Some describe it as Uncomfortable, Tiring and Endured.Others describe it as painful and traumatic.What makes Birth what? And how do you learn what you want your Birth to look like? Is it possible to have these desires and work on creating an experience?Keesha, takes on these questions. She answers for us , 'how can one involve their families in Birth- partner or parents?' , the question we left Part I of this conversation on. ...
I would not be surprised when those who had immesely transformative births say that birth needs a lot of inner work, causes emotional stir and heals you in different ways.Consequently, Birth work also brings changes for the people involved in those birth stories like Keesha says as a doula the inner work has translated into various aspects and relationships of her life. Dive into the conversation to learn- 1) What does a Doula Do?2) How does birth look like with guidence under a Doula?3) Emot...
Another episode for the Yearly Segment of Fatherhood Stories on the Podcast.This is about Postpartum Anxiety in Men during Pregnancy and Postpartum. Our Guest Today, Joshua Maze is the Dad Coordinator for Postpartum Support International, a nature connected coach and a bachelor's in social work.Joshua learnt how his experiences rounded up to Postpartum Anxiety and started helping new dads through his efforts on various platforms in recognizing and finding support during this emotionally heavy...
Rajat Mittal is the founder of 'Boyish' - a monthly newsletter expanding the discourse on masculinity in India. Boyish aims to break Gender Stereotypes by talking about the impact of patriarchy on all genders of the society. Rajat's take on Boyish is fresh and intuitive. He is also a former co-founder of Menstrupedia.As a Father's day special, an yearly segment of Fatherhood stories on the Podcast, I was particularly driven to get him on board and learn from him precis...
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2022-06-0601:13

Delayed-----To be out later--- 6th July 2022So many things boomeranged together and I realized I had by mistake announced that the next episode will be Part II of the Dental health episode with Dr Pooja, however there is no second part to it.The coming episode will be released thisFriday -10th Feb 2022 , which is all about the emotional aspect of Birth and its translation into a birth worker's life. This is with Doula Keesha, a part of the Doula Stories theme. Stay tuned for it!Pregnancy Seri...
This is a sequel to '#18- Birth Health- What is that one ingredient that matters'. Consider listening to it first as a bonus in terms of context!You asked me this- 'On the roller coaster journey of postpartum, how do I know if I am carrying the seat belt?'We discover this and go through the various ways postpartum hits us emotionally. At the end of this episode I share an activity for you to prepare yourself for the emotionally turbulant postartum days by asking yourself some potent que...
Brushing is often seen as the most overlooked aspect of our life and yet when we face the camera , we flash all of them that make to the smile curve, to the photographer.With our little ones , we are overcautious of how the teeth appear as they categorically sum up to the beauty quotient. But are we teaching them the right brushing skills or do we know them ourselves? It was fun to figure that out in this conversation.Additionaly, how and what to do to protect teeth from cavities, decay and m...
Starting with a great news here, I am now an Internationally Certified Lactation Counselor. I would now be able to extend this education and the aim to bring awareness about Breast feeding to a greater periphery.Thankyou so much for your love on the podcast. I look forward to be able to serve you one to one too!In this episode , we explore how Birth Health- your seat belt for pregnancy and the period after you become a new mother called 'Postpartum' affects your journey.I forgot carryin...
This Episode is close to my heart because here in a listener reached out to me about her experience with 'Vaginismus' and said that so little is spoken and even done to bring about a respectable acceptance of the condition and so wishes more was spoken about the condition.In 2022, here we are with Dr Niveditha trying to learn about the condition that 'Vaginismus' is and when one thinks they may have it, how do they approach the situation.Dr Niveditha is an Indian Venereologist and a clinician...
Part II of our conversation is centered at Pregnancy Exercise and its effect on Postpartum recovery.Dr Divya Gaur helps us approach the early postpartum in a more guided and structured way. Speaks about 1)The significance of prenatal exercises on Postnatal recovery.2) Causes of Urinary Incontinence3) Prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence.4) Approaching pregnancy fitness and Postpartum Recovery.Tune in to listen to the story of a woman laboring with a positive pain perception and ho...
Million dollar question !If you are in India, and you say "Doctor! I read somewhere I need to have a Birth Plan? I am going to very soon share one with you". You are so excited and the doctor says, " We do not do Birth Plans. What are they really?"Your hopes of doing your best in Pregnancy and Birth are first shattered here and the little hopes of participation are also snatched away. Anyway, I would as a Birth Educator tell you , You should still make a birth plan! Why? Tune in d...
'The two lines' that set you on a journey to become 'three' . The happy positive for many of us where soon after the news , we start surfing the online world for what to do to prepare ourself in Pregnancy and for Birth.The sooner you write 'Baby' in your google search, the faster Internet starts bombarding you with information on Pregnancy, Exercise, Fitness, Yoga , Baby Care, Baby Care Products etc.One of the most nasty questions a lot of us have is , should we start exercising now?Is it oka...
Disclaimer- No, you may not want to listen to it as it is not education based, but is a trip back in time to help you find a perspective into 'What is a natural Birth' ? It is nothing like you know it!We go back in time and through the references from two textbooks to understand what it is.The content of this episode is my perspective as a birth professional. It may give you that one hook you need to hang on to.Next up on Season 3 is an episode with a Physiotherapist on the importance of exer...
Nutrition is often a topic of debate especially when it comes to children.Some of us stick to what we serve the family but as the child grows, parents have to frequently deal with a child not opening up to new foods, eating only a specific food items or may be denying foods.In this episode , Nidhi Yadav who is child nutrition educator with certifications from UNICEF, Cornell and Stanford speaks to us about- the start of today's narrative on nutrition.- the involvement of families in ensuring ...
Pregnancy Series Wrapped!I often come across people who want their birth journey a certain way. One of the crucial decisions at the start of your journey play a major factor in defining your birth journey.I learnt it the hard way. So here is a list of what you should be thinking about and doing in each stage of Pregnancy to work towards the kind of birth experience you want. We talk about:1) Pre-conception phase2) Each trimester (I, II and III)At the end of the episode there will be an activi...
In the second part of our conversation for the 'Doula Stories' series with Nidhi Seth on spiritual birth, we discuss the aspects of emotional healing both for a doula and a mother.Nidhi is a Certified Birth Doula, Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula, Hatha/Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga Instructor, Bengkung Belly Binding Practitioner, Clinical Herbalist in Training working on Women & Infant Medicine.Being a doula is an emotionally exhausting job. We discuss:How Nidhi follows detachment?Birthwork fo...
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