CHENNAI: When Vanitha Vinod decided it was time to have her second child, she first went on to select the hospital and the doctor even before she got pregnant. “I had my first child in the U.S., and I wanted a similar experience,” she said. After some searching, she decided on a birthing boutique. “The facility was exclusively for pregnant mothers and with similar comforts you get in a luxury hotel,” she said.
Like Ms. Vinod, a lot of expecting mothers are choosing birthing boutiques to take care of their needs during pregnancy. In the past couple of years, a large number of luxury maternity hospitals have opened up in the city, giving mothers more options.
According to R. Rajagopalan, whose daughter gave birth to a baby girl at one of the birthing boutiques, he had only two options around two years ago. Now, there are many more. “When my daughter decided to fly down from the United States to give birth, we immediately decided the new baby needed special care. We visited the different places available, and narrowed it down to Motherhood,” he said.
In addition to regular checkups, boutique birthing centres also offer a birth package that includes parenting classes, Lamaze classes, and lactation consultation and even offer midwife support at home.Besides the specialised care, these centres offer opportunities for bonding with other mothers-to-be.
P. Deepalakshmi who had her baby less than a month ago says there is a friendship that builds from seeing other pregnant women who are going through the same things as you. “At the boutique, everywhere you look there are pregnant women, it makes you feel safe,” she said.
Nayeem Sheriff, consultant gynaecologist at Cloudnine Hospital added that even though the rooms are luxurious, and the ambience is casual, these hospitals still practise serious medicine. “We have a neonatal ICU and also an ICU for the mothers, and we have some very senior doctors and strict guidelines,” she said.
According to Sumana Manohar, Apollo Cradle, since birthing boutiques deal only with pregnant mothers, there is more focus in their treatment. “Many families come for their gynaecologist check-up as if it is an outing. There is a play area for older children, and it is generally a very genial atmosphere,” she said.
Vijaya Meenakshi, faculty director, Motherhood, Chennai, says that along with the relaxed atmosphere, birthing boutiques also have a number of advantages. “We always have a gynaecologist on duty 24×7, and even the rooms are much more comfortable for mothers to give birth,” she said.

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