Harsha Chavda was the first test-tube baby born in Mumbai city in 1986. On Monday, her dream of becoming a mother came true when she delivered a healthy baby.
Co-incidentally, the team that performed the C-Section on Harsha and delivered the baby on Monday is the same team that delivered her mother back in 1986.
“It’s hard to believe that we have delivered more than 15,000 test-tube babies since that day when we first delivered Harsha,” said IVF and infertility specialist Dr Indira Hinduja, who delivered Harsha. “I still remember the day she was born — it was August 6, 1986, at 4.10 pm, at KEM Hospital. Her parents were on top of the world and so were we,” she recalled.
Harsha is now 29 years old, married to Divyapal Shah and works as a Mumbai-based accountant. On Monday, Dr Hinduja delivered Harsha’s baby — a healthy boy, conceived naturally and weighing 3.18 kilos, at 10.36 am.
“Both mother and baby are doing great,” said a jubilant Dr Hinduja.
Dr Kusum Zaveri, who is a part of both teams, said, “Harsha has been in touch with us all her life. We meet and interact with her on a regular basis. It is but natural that she chose us to help deliver her baby.”
“The test-tube baby technique, though in practice in the western world, was not established in India until we found success in 1986 with Harsha’s birth. We had to take so many permissions — from the ethics committee of KEM Hospital, the ICMR, etc.,” said Dr Hinduja.
“Harsha’s mother, Maniben, had suffered from tuberculosis, which had permanently damaged her fallopian tubes. She was desperate to have a baby, and when we explained the new technique to her, she agreed to it immediately,” recalled Dr Hinduja. “We did the procedure and spent the next few days praying that it would be successful,” she recalled.
Harsha’s pregnancy, on the other hand, was smooth and uneventful. “There is no reason why test-tube babies cannot conceive normally. In Harsha’s case, we had to do a C-Section because it indicated a breech presentation,” explained Dr Hinduja. A baby is said to be in breech when it is in bottom-first position in the mother’s uterus instead of head-down position.
