Speaking of Child Care: Discover the Joy of Motherhood

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Offers comprehensive information on safe pregnancy and childbirth
Provides basic parenting skills to help you become an ideal parent
A must for every new mum.

Motherhood is perhaps the most cherished desire of a woman. It is a wonderful feeling to hold the baby in your arms and shower all your love on him. But love alone is not enough in caring for a child. Speaking of Child Care is a comprehensive guide to pregnancy and everyday child care. It offers practical advice on all aspects of pregnancy, childbirth, and taking care of the newborn as well as on common problems faced by parents during their child’s preteens and adolescence. An ideal book on parenting, it will. Help you in bringing up your child as a complete human being. A must especially for every new mother, this book will also be of great value to doctors, nurses, midwives, home science students and teachers.

Dr. Suraj Gupte, a product of the prestigious Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and currently Professor and Head, Department of Paediatrics, Nellore, AP, is a celebrated paediatrician, educationist, researcher, innovator and author of world standing. A winner of several national and international fellowships, professorships and awards, his name appears in most of the “Who’s Who” volumes globally The European Society of Professional Writers (ESPW) recently honoured him with the coveted “Medical Author of the Decade” award for his outstanding literary contribution in the field of paediatric medicine.

Foreword

It was at a World Book Fair that I first came across Dr. Suraj Gupte’s book, Know Your Child (now retitled Speaking of Child Care: Discover the joy of motherhood) several years ago. Needless to say, I was highly impressed by its rich contents, simple and straightforward narration and practical rather than philosophical orientation. Nevertheless, little did I realise then that some day I would be bestowed the honour of writing a “Foreword” to this wonderful book. The overall impression the third revised, updated and enlarged edition of the Speaking of Child Care leaves on a critical reader’s mind is that a child brought up with right nutrition and the best of health care, love, freedom and discipline enters the adolescence and later adulthood with security and confidence, holding virtually all the trump cards for success in life.

Not that Dr. Gupte says that in raising children, no problems are encountered. There are, in fact, many. The book tells the parents how to prevent and tackle the problems efficiently. You will find in it all sorts of much-sought-after information, from conception to breastfeeding, love bonds, schooling to adolescence and its problems, behavioural difficulties, discipline, medical problems, adoption and the like.

A pre-eminent highlight of the third edition is some brand new chapters, especially on growth-promoting diet, height, programming, choice of paediatrician, hospitalisation, first-aid and emergencies. These are bound to add up to the usefulness and excellence of this popular book on parenting.

All in all, the book is now of yet greater utility to parents, especially in the Indian subcontinent, to steer infants, children and adolescents grow up happily, well-adjusted and optimistic about the world around.

I have great pleasure in yet more strongly recommending this third edition of Speaking of Child Care by Dr. Suraj Gupte, a reputed paediatric clinician, researcher, innovator, educationist and author, to the young parents interested in grasping the art and craft of parenting right from conception through infancy and childhood to adolescence. What is worth mentioning is that, it shall enlighten even the hierarchy in the family wanting to keep abreast with the modern child care which indeed lays the foundation for a productive adulthood, useful for the society and the nation, nay the global welfare.

I am confident it will help parents, especially in the Indian subcontinent, to assist children grow up happily, well-adjusted and optimistic about the world around.

At the very outset, here’s thanking the readers and reviewers who accorded the Know Your Child (now retitled Speaking of Child Care:

Discover the joy of motherhood) a warm reception over the years. Unfortunately, the book remained out of print for quite some time for reasons beyond my control. My apologies are due for this lapse. The new edition is thoroughly revised and updated with fresh additions. Entirely new chapters are “Your Child’s Height”, “Growth promoting Diet for your Child”, “All About Programming Your Child”, “You and Your Child’s Doctor”, “About Hospitalisation”, “Useful Household First-aid Measures” and “Winding Up”. The original aim of its being a spotlight on the “total child” is maintained. Hopefully, all this will enhance the practical utility of the book and contribute to the eventual goal of providing better child care.

I also acknowledge the contribution of my wife, Shamma Bakshi Gupte, who enriched my writings in many ways, particularly through excellent counselling based on her first hand experience in bringing up our two sweet children — daughter Navy (now a doctor) and son Manu (now an engineer).

Finally, I shall continue welcoming the feedback for further enhancing the value of the book.

It is indeed exciting to plan a family, to wait for the arrival of the “little one” and to watch him grow, spreading his mind and abilities. Imagine the thrill it gives you as you watch him opening up, giving a smile or responding to you in his own little way.

And yet, the fact remains that during his upbringing, more often than not, you find yourself in a mess on trivial matters. How you wish someone had guided you about the right way to handle him, to feed him, what to do when he cries, how to get him protected against certain illnesses and accidents, so on and so forth. What is happening in a child’s mind and what upsets him emotionally do concern you. But, what a pity that you find yourself helpless and not able to do something that will eventually benefit the child.

This book aims at providing the answers. It explains all that is necessary to know for young parents in India and other developing countries about child rearing, right from “how it starts” to the “stormy teens” including recognition of various medical problems.

Is this book meant only for parents? No, it is for everybody having something to do with the “growing child”. Nurses, midwives, school teachers, students of home science and housecraft and general practitioners whose practice involves care of the children in particular will find it very rewarding. So, here’s wishing you a happy and rewarding reading to help your children grow up happily and well.

**Contents and Sample Pages**