Experience the bliss of being mother

Pregnancy, the beginning of a new life is certainly a great experience. To enhance this feeling and to create beautiful memories of the nine months for all the expecting mothers, Jessy Naidu Guntupalli's initiative 'Joy of Pregnancy' steps forward.

About starting 'Joy of Pregnancy' Hyderabad-based Jessy, shares, "When I was in an ashram at Bangalore, my guruji Rishi Diwakar was talking about pregnancy and specifically mentioned about how a baby listens to her mother when she is in the womb. It really surprised me.

I was just married at that time and, when I was pregnant, I started to experience the same. Guruji told me that whatever you visualise it will happen to your baby, which is why I started to experiment. When I started talk to my baby it started to kick and respond and I too was quite active. I was touring through the nine months, climbing hills, etc. leaving everyone surprised."

Originally a life coach, a few experiences steered Jessy's interest towards opening an innovative space for would be mothers. "I travelled all over India to train the trainers in ways to deal with the pregnant women. After my delivery I started this institute 'Joy of Pregnancy'. My profession started as a life couch in 1991 and it was just a service.

Then, after I delivered a baby my guru ji asked me to start something on my own. During this time, I met Dr Jayanthi Reddy in Hyderabad. She happened to attend my classes and was quite impressed. She gave me space and advised to train all the expecting mothers. I started classes for expecting mothers for free. There has been criticism, but the good feedback from the mothers who came to me including few prominent people like anchor Suma, gave me confidence. Eventually, I started to charge for the classes."

"These classes have about nine sessions that motivate and encourage pregnant woman. Activities spread over 280 days make these women very happy and satisfied. By spending the day along with others and getting involved in fun filled activities, these pregnant women certainly create a happy atmosphere for themselves," explains Jessy.

No wonder, at a very young age, she got the pseudonym, Jessy Maa; she is called a mother for many of the expecting mother for making the nine months special.

The activities are aimed at creating a joyful atmosphere, and positively impact the physical and mental health of the expecting mothers. "The classes are divided into three braches; Sankalpa – for couples who plan for a baby and that includes five sessions; after conception there are nine sessions, and post-delivery, they come back with their four-month-old babies to attend nine more session (Joy of Parenting) spread across two and half months. "Being to Bali, Indonesia where I learnt lot of techniques that helped me to be a freelancer in many hospitals for delivery support as well," she adds.

Jessy lost her mother when she was just one and half year-old. She has never seen her, and soon she lost her father as well. Her strength and inspiration comes from her long lost mother, whom she imagines to be with her when she is in her class helping mothers cope with pregnancy. She also is around to help the women with their normal deliveries as much as possible, and all through the delivery, she is with them, helping and motivating them.

Imagining my mother helps me calm down as it is very challenging to motivate and counsel women going through normal delivery, she states. Moving forward, she plans to start Garbha Raksha Kendram – "where pregnant women get to stay and have an atmosphere that is preganant-friendly."