Archive · 22 Aug 2026
A premature birth transforms motherhood inside India’s NICU
The writer went to the hospital for a normal pregnancy check-up.
She was 28 weeks pregnant, which is much earlier than when most babies are born.
Doctors admitted her and performed an emergency caesarean section.
Her baby was born about two months early.
He needed care in a special hospital unit called a NICU.
The writer watched machines that measured his breathing and heartbeat.
She also held him carefully against her body to provide kangaroo mother care.
Her experience of becoming a mother was very different from the stories about labour and childbirth she had expected.
The writer was admitted to hospital during a routine prenatal check-up at 28 weeks of pregnancy.
Doctors performed an emergency caesarean section, and her son was born two months early.
Her first experiences of motherhood began in a neonatal intensive care unit rather than at home.
She learned to focus on oxygen levels, heart rates and monitoring machines surrounding her baby.
While recovering from surgery, she held her very small son during kangaroo mother care despite pain from her stitches.
- Who
- A mother and her son, who was born prematurely.
- What
- The mother underwent an emergency caesarean section at 28 weeks of pregnancy, and her son was cared for in a NICU.
- When
- During a routine prenatal check-up; the baby arrived within hours of the mother’s hospital admission, two months before the expected time.
- Where
- A hospital and neonatal intensive care unit, in the context of India.
- Why
- Doctors admitted the mother and carried out an emergency delivery after concerns arose during the prenatal check-up; the article does not state the specific medical reason.
- Pregnancy stage
- 28 weeks
- Delivery
- Emergency caesarean section
- Timing of birth
- Two months early
- Baby’s care
- Neonatal intensive care unit
- Mother’s care activity
- Kangaroo mother care
- Monitoring
- Oxygen saturation and heart rate
- Recovery
- Lower-abdomen pain while stitches healed