Gramin Vikas Sansthan

In village Khajro, Kalpana now realises there were many things she did not do right during the birth of her three older children. They are eleven, seven and five years old. To begin with, they were given a thorough scrubbing with soap soon after birth. That seemed to be the custom. Often, therefore, infants burst out in rashes and had to undergo prolonged treatment. Kalpana also threw away the wholesome cholestrum milk that comes out first, as an offering to God. And like everybody else she too gave breast milk to the infant three days after childbirth.

When Kalpana was expecting her youngest, who is a year old now, she and her husband decided not to have the baby at home. By then her eldest son was 10 years old, so Kalpana was embarrassed. Kalpana's husband drove a horse-cart, which they owned. So transportation was not a problem.

In due course, when Kalpana went into labor she told her husband it was time. Her sister-in-law accompanied them even though it was a cold winter night. Before they could reach the clinic, Kalpana delivered on the way, in the horse-cart. Her sister-in-law held the baby, wrapped it in a shawl and they came back home. They then sent for the midwife, who came immediately and cut the cord and cleaned the child, this time with a damp cotton cloth as Kalpana had instructed her. Without wasting any further time, Kalpana then gave breast milk to the child. For six months after that the baby had nothing but his mother's milk.

Now that her youngest son is a year old she gives him a little bit of all that they eat-vegetable, rice, dal, chapati, etc. She makes porridge of the bulgar they receive as food support and has it for breakfast with her family.