They take the baby so that they may fix me where they cut. They give me something that makes me sleepy, delivered through a mask pressed gently to my mouth and nose. My husband jokes around with the doctor as he holds my hand.
How much to get that extra stitch, he asks. You offer that, right? Please, I say to him. But it comes out slurred and twisted and possibly no more than a small moan. Neither man turns his head toward me.
The doctor chuckles. You aren't the first.
The Husband Stitch-Carmen Maria Machado.
Bhanupriya, 23, from Bengaluru, developed pain in the abdomen in the 36th week of pregnancy. "As I wore my gloves to examine if she was going into labour she wept, screamed and refused an internal examination," said Dr N. Sapna Lulla, lead consultant, obstetrics and gynaecology at Aster CMI Hospital, Bengaluru.
Bhanupriya was married to a sari merchant from Rajasthan. She said to Lulla that obstetricians like her are the reason for her trauma. "It was only then I comprehended what I was dealing with," said Lulla, who asked Bhanupriya to meet a psychiatrist.
Bhanupriya told the psychiatrist about the husband stitch, which was an additional stitch she was given following a vaginal birth. This was to enhance sexual pleasure for her husband. The tears that ran down Bhanupriya’s cheeks gave Lulla a peek into her emotional trauma. She refused a normal birth in fear of tightening the vagina to give her husband more pleasure during sex. It took a lot of effort and counselling and assurance to get her to agree to a normal vaginal birth,” the doctor said.
Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin February 05, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin February 05, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
