Spiritual Pregnancy

Spiritual Pregnancy by Gopika Kapoor is a good addition to the shelf of Indian pregnancy books, with pregnancy tips on mental as well as physical aspects.

Spiritual Pregnancy is Gopika Kapoor’s second book, the first one being Spiritual Parenting. Not having read that book, one is hard pressed to compare the two books, which by itself might not be such a terrible thing because it allows one to read this book without being influenced by its predecessor.

Spiritual Pregnancy, written simply, is a positive, uplifting kind of book that fits into the prescribed reading material meant for pregnant mothers. The themes dealt with in the book are primarily those of how to keep the mind positive, the body active and fit with yoga and exercise, old wives tales, sex during pregnancy and dealing with the hormonal blues brought on by pregnancy namely, depression and nameless fears that haunt every pregnant woman.

The voice of the author is present through the book, with her personal experiences peppering the work – perhaps more than a reader would have liked. But the voice is sensible, much like that of an older sibling who has gone through the process and is reassuring a younger sibling in her first pregnancy.

What is interesting is that this book also talks about alternative birthing methods like water births, natural at-home births and hypnotherapy assisted births with real women speak about their experiences. Given that a majority of Indian women consider the home and hospital births as the only two alternatives, this is interesting because it empowers women to know about the alternatives available to them. Granted that water births and hypno-births are available primarily in a few centres in the metros right now, more awareness about these alternatives might help fuel the demand by patients for such birthing centres.

This might also make the expectant mother research birthing options to the hospital delivery available within her city and opt for an alternative birthing centre if available. While the book doesn’t get into the details of the alternative birthing options, restricting itself to a basic description and a first person story, there is a disclaimer asking women with high risk pregnancies to check with their doctors before attempting this kind of birth. With water and hypno-births generating interest in cities like Mumbai, the description of the process is interesting enough to pique one’s curiosity.

As for home births, these are familiar to most rural Indians and while they may be an alien concept to the urban Indian woman, the fact remains that in normal pregnancies, home births are options which people abroad as well as some in urban India are looking at seriously.

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The book also goes beyond pregnancy to talk about breast feeding post delivery, postpartum depression and about how the father can be more involved in the pregnancy and post birth baby care. As for the “spiritual” pregnancy that the title refers to, there isn’t much except for a few references to reading spiritual books and meditating.

A perfectly pleasant book to have close at hand during your pregnancy, but keep your What To Expect When You’re Expecting closer.

Publisher: Hay House
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