Mumbai's first test tube baby becomes mother

Twenty-nine years after she became famous as Mumbai’s first test tube baby, Harsha Chawda Shah is now herself a proud mother of a baby boy.

Notably, Harsha’s caesarean-section at the Jaslok Hospital on the eve of Women’s Day yesterday was performed by the same doctors who had helped her mother in conception by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique in 1986.

Harsha’s baby boy, born on the auspicious day of ‘Shivratri’, is doing fine and the mother is fast recovering.  Most expectedly, both could be discharged from the hospital in next 4 to 5 days, said Dr Indira Hinduja who carried out the delivery yesterday.

Dr Hinduja had led the team during Harsha’s birth using IVF technology in August 1986.

Harsha, a resident of suburban Matunga, had hit the headlines when she was born on August 6, 1986, after Dr Indira Hinduja and Dr Kusum Zaveri - the infertility treatment specialists delivered her at KEM hospital here.

The IVF technique opened new gateways and since then thousands of women, who could not conceive naturally, have got the pleasure of becoming mother.

Expressing her joy over the birth of Harsha’s child, Dr Hinduja told PTI, “It is really hard to believe that we have delivered more than 15,000 test tube babies since the day we delivered Harsha. I remember the day Harsha was born, and since then she has remained an integral part of my personal and professional life and I am very happy for her today.”

“Harsha’s baby was conceived naturally and she was admitted to the hospital on Sunday. Now it’s more than a proven fact that even test tube-born babies can also have a very normal life,” she said, adding that IVF technique has proven to be a boon for infertile and aged women who want to become mother.