specific time down to the last second. Bewildered

are being forced to perform deliveries at 12 midnight and at all hours of the night, just to ensure that the parents’ desire for the right

nakshatra

(star) for their child is fulfilled.

astrologers

Dr Shobha Venkat

obstetrician and gynaecologist

baby has to be delivered early in the morning just because the couple insists, there won’t be enough support staff at that time. As a result, we are under immense pressure,” Dr

contended.

Cloud Nine Hospitals

Dr Rashmi Yogish

moola nakshatra

Many parents don’t mind paying extra to ensure ‘midnight delivery’ to hit the auspicious hourFiddling with nature in the hope of a ‘good’ horoscope for the child, more and more parents, particularly from the educated class, are insisting that the baby should be born, or rather brought out of the womb, at agynaecologistsA couple of weeks ago, doctors at a private hospital were in a fix as a young woman came into the labour room for delivery on a Monday morning. As the doctors prepared for it, she insisted that the doctors postpone her delivery to Wednesday since thehad told her that it was auspicious. Only after the doctors explained the risk to her did she agree to deliver the baby and forgo the auspicious muhurtam.Normal delivery has indeed become rare,, consultant, told Bangalore Mirror. “I get only a few cases for natural delivery. In most cases, the couples, most of them highly educated, insist that the baby is delivered on a particular date and at a particular time.”Dr Venkat says patients approach her with astrological charts secured from television channels. In one instance, a couple insisted that their baby be born at 12:03:04 am. “If theVenkatDr Kishore Kumar, chairman and managing director of, said, “We often tend to discourage such requests and tell them that it is not medically acceptable. But we do get a significant number of requests. In such cases, the delivery costs also go up at least by 10 per cent as the gynecologists have to report for work at odd hours, but in most cases, couples do not mind paying that extra money.”Currently, with the festival season in full swing, fixing time and dates has become even more rampant., gynecologist at Malathi Manipal Hospital who gets such requests from about 18 per cent of her patients, said: “Of late, there has been a great demand, mainly from the educated class. In many cases, we do not have an option but to cater to their needs to make them happy. But it puts under great stress and tension.”The tension is more for the anesthesiologist who has to deliver the anesthetic at exactly the right time. “If the patient wants a delivery at 1.45 am, I have to time the anesthesia two minutes before. That may not be the right way of doing it, but most couples say that come what may, that is the way they want it,” Dr Anupama, anesthesiologist at Malathi Manipal, said.A patient, who did not want to be named, said that they were consulting astrologers so that their child is born in a good nakshatra. “Many girls suffer if they are born in the, because, in that case, the girls should go only to houses where the mother-in law is not there. So, I want my kid to be born in a good nakshatra,” she said.