She works tirelessly to bring into the many cradles of cry and tears of joy.
She leaves her plate half-empty to deliver the bundle of joy safe into a mother’s arms.
A mother gives you life, but she has given hers to deliver thousands of lifelines.
An ode to Dr. Shilpa Ambekar and every other Gynaecologist who has truly spent their lives learning how to save others’. Maybe that’s why Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman Philosopher had said, “People pay the doctor for his trouble; for his kindness, they still remain in his debt.”
But, to express and live such kindness, one has to go through a hoard of struggles, to gain patients’ trust, to manage and maintain hospital faculty and facility to ensure quality care, and to be always on toes to save lives. “Maintaining work-life balance and working tirelessly every day is tough,” Dr. Shilpa Ambekar says, “But the joy we see on parents’ faces when they for the first time cradle their baby and hold them close, it makes all the pain worth.”
Dr. Shilpa Ambekar along with her team has been spreading joy every day at Lifelline Medicare Group of Hospitals for the past decade. Although she takes pride in helping bring a bundle of joy to the family, Shilpa also confessed the hardships she and the team had faced at the start.
“When we started Lifelline Medicare in 2008, gaining trust in the community was a major challenge for us,” Shilpa is also consultant at Bombay hospital, Breachcandy hospital & Surya hospital.
Dr. Shilpa’s hard work and compassion along with her team’s cordial and skilled efforts helped break the myth. However, Shilpa and her team had to deal with several more challenges to establish Lifelline Medicare as a trusted name in the gynecology and maternity space.
Breaking the C-section myth
Many patients believe doctors often recommend c-section even when there’s a possibility of normal delivery. This was another challenge Dr. Shilpa and her team at Lifelline Medicare had to deal with. Gaining patients’ trust was tough but the skilled staff and caregivers at Lifelline Medicare made it possible.
“The scare of c-section has completely vanished for all my patients,” Dr. Shilpa says, “We try our best to conduct normal deliveries suggesting c-section only when at most indicated for mother and baby.
The hospital has specialized facilities and advanced technologies to try to conduct painless delivery. The hydro birth facility at the hospital has helped several mothers deliver with the least pain. The hospital is always on par with 24X7 care and observation by the doctors and skilled nurses, NICU incubator, and other facilities.
This has helped patients build faith towards the doctors and the staff completely breaking the c-section myth for the patients at Lifelline Medicare.
Doctor’s life behind scrubs
You won’t know how deep the water is until you dive in. Before entering the maternity space, Dr. Shilpa was unaware of the groundbreaking efforts the maternity space requires. With time Dr. Shilpa got the knack of the hectic schedule. She skillfully manages time in between her shifts by taking power naps and making time for other chores.
While working in a maternity space is hectic and stressful, she agrees, the satisfaction of delivering happiness balances it all. “We have gone without brushing our teeth for 2-3 days.” Dr. Shilpa shared her experience, “But when the baby is delivered and the joy we see on mom’s face, sometimes even family members come and hug the doctors and team to share their joy and gratitude that gives me immense satisfaction.”
Mission birth to beyond
A gynecologist’s job doesn’t end with a new birth, it begins from there. Lifelline Medicare hospital reflects has reflected it in every place from its logo to the ground services. The hospital provides facilities for women from birth till menopause. This is another unique aspect of the hospital that has helped build a strong bond with its patients by providing all the quality care female patients need under one roof.
Operating challenges with caution and care
While society is moving forward with more acceptance towards feminism, the bitter truth of sexism followed by few communities can’t be ignored. And the maternity space is where we experience gender discrimination the most.
Dr. Shilpa and her team at Lifelline Medicare have been dealing with this challenge with caution and care. While welcoming new life to this world is extreme joy, the team also has to face the disappointment of the family’s face on delivering a girl child, epically if it’s the second girl child. Dr. Shilpa confessed this experience as heartbreaking in the modern world.
When asked about how the hospital deals with such cases, Dr. Shilpa shared the approach, “For a mother her every child is equal. We try to induce this belief in mothers helping them see beyond the society’s lenses of differentiating girl and boy. Once the mother accepts her child irrespective of gender, no one can touch her happiness of welcoming another bundle of joy.”
When both mother and father accept the baby with equal love and affection irrespective of gender, the family with time accepts the baby with equal joy.
Innovation making pain manageable
It is said that a woman who can tolerate labor pain can tolerate any pain in the world. However, technology and innovation have helped labor pains quite manageable. Lifelline Medicare Hospital has been using innovation to initiate painless labor, where the mothers don’t feel 70% of pain and in many cases, they deliver with a smile.
The latest technology like continuous fetal monitoring has also made fetus monitoring much easier during delivery. This portable machine is attached to the patient when she goes into labor to continuously monitor the baby’s heartbeat and help doctors notice any issues during delivery. Dr. Shilpa agrees that this technology has made the team more confident in conducting healthy and normal deliveries. Telemedicine has also played its small part in connecting doctors to patients over phones to help them provide any care and medical advice to manage labor pain and other delivery issues. However, according to Dr. Shilpa, physical facilities and assistance are must to ensure the health of the mother and the fetus for safe deliveries.
Taking further her compassion and devotion towards her work, Dr. Shilpa also shared her hopes to see improvisation in laws and regulations regarding maternity and birth making them more lenient and practical to provide better services to patients.
Delivering happiness during the pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic has tested the healthcare industry throughout the world, including maternity space. Experiencing and aiding delivery cases of COVID-positive mothers was a new challenge Lifelline Medicare had to deal with during the pandemic. As this situation was very new to even the healthcare and maternity space, the professionals were unaware of how the coronavirus will be affecting the fetus. However, the team’s skills and dedication made it possible for COVID positive mothers to deliver safely, which has been another milestone in the hospital’s successful journey.
Extending lifeline of happiness
Maternity care is among the facilities that patients prefer having close to their homes. Lifelline Medicare aims to extend its care and services by expanding in different neighborhoods. The hospital is also planning to increase occupancy and invest in mobile healthcare services to be able to provide quality healthcare to more patients in need.
Dr. Shilpa also encourages aspiring doctors and caregivers wanting to enter the maternity space, “While the work is hectic it is extremely satisfying as well,” she said, “My advice to anyone wanting to enter the maternity space is to be prepared for long hours, night calls, and above all delivering with devotion.”
