Presented at Motherhood Hospitals’ “Normalising the Normal”, a scientific conference, highlights the role of informed choice, appropriate patient selection and collaborative care in supporting natural and water birthing.
Bengaluru, October 7th, 2026: Motherhood Hospital, Hebbal, has recorded over 161 mothers who chose natural birth at their Natural Birthing Program. At a recent scientific conference held by Motherhood Hospitals, over 380 Obstetricians, Paediatricians, Birth Practitioners, nurses, and physiotherapists came from across the country for a learning and immersive conversation on natural and water birthing, hydrotherapy, midwifery-led care, and evolving approaches to birth planning.
The programme brought together leading voices from across the birthing ecosystem, including Dr. Gowri Motha, Founder, Gentle Birth Method, London; Dr. Evita Fernandez, Chairperson & Managing Director, Fernandez Foundation, Hyderabad; Priyanka Idicula, Founder, Birthvillage, Kerala; and Dr. (Hons) Inderjeet Kaur, Director of Midwifery, Fernandez Foundation, alongside Dr. Sireesha Reddy, Senior Consultant – Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Motherhood Hospitals, Hebbal. The programme featured perspectives spanning natural and gentle birth, water births, hydrotherapy, midwifery and paediatric care.
Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Vijayarathna Venkatraman, Chief Executive Officer, Motherhood Hospitals, emphasised that the quality of maternal health depends on collaboration across the entire care team, with the mother remaining at the centre of the process. He said, “Maternal health cannot be delivered by one person or one department. Doctors, nurses, midwives and every member of the care team must work collaboratively, because that is when care truly comes together. At the centre of this entire journey is the mother. At Motherhood, our responsibility is to create an environment where she feels informed, supported and cared for, while ensuring that the clinical expertise and safety systems around her are always strong.”
The scientific sessions then began with Dr. Sireesha Reddy, Senior Consultant – Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Motherhood Hospitals, Hebbal, who presented the journey of Motherhood Hebbal’s Natural Birthing Unit since its inception in July 2024, including learnings from more than 100 natural and water births. Her session highlighted the importance of offering different approaches to childbirth while maintaining appropriate clinical safeguards.
She added, “The biggest learning from our experience is that natural birthing is not about promoting one mode of delivery over another; it is about giving women the right to make an informed choice. Since we started the Natural Birthing Unit in July 2024, we have focused on creating an environment where women who are clinically suitable can explore natural and water birthing with confidence, knowing the care plan will always evolve around what is safest for them and their baby. Every birth method is respected, and every woman deserves to have her choice supported by evidence, expertise and the right clinical team.”
The conference brought global and national expertise together on one platform, with practitioners discussing how maternity care can evolve to give women greater participation in decisions around childbirth, while retaining clinical preparedness at every stage. Discussions covered gentle birth, natural and water birthing, hydrotherapy, midwifery-led care and modern birth planning, with an emphasis on understanding when a planned approach may need to change based on the needs of the mother or baby. The programme therefore positioned natural birthing not as an alternative to medical care, but as one of the choices that can be considered within a safe and appropriately supported maternity care framework.
For Motherhood Hebbal, this philosophy is reflected in the development of its Natural Birthing Unit, which aims to make informed birthing choices more accessible to clinically suitable women.
As Motherhood continues to build its maternity care offering, the focus remains on putting the mother at the centre of the birth experience, while bringing together choice, evidence and clinical expertise. The hospital’s approach is to ensure that women are informed about their options, supported in the choices they make and cared for by a team equipped to respond when their clinical needs change.
About Motherhood Hospitals
Motherhood Women & Children’s Hospital network is India’s fastest-growing single-specialty hospital and a part of Asia Healthcare Holdings, is a network with 25 hospitals across 12 cities and over 1,400 leading gynaecologists, paediatricians, and neonatologists associated with the hospital network. Recognized for its best- in-class clinical expertise and comprehensive women and childcare services, the healthcare chain manages high-risk pregnancies, complex gynaecological surgeries, fertility enhancement, and uro-gynaecological procedures. It is also known for managing critically ill newborns and extremely low birth weight babies. With over 280 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds, Motherhood Hospitals is renowned as India’s leading referral centre for complex preterm births.
For more information, please visit https://www.motherhoodindia.com/