My first pregnancy came to term in a very friendly environment in the UK. It may sound clichéd and a tad snooty too but healthcare abroad is very different from India. Doctors are friendlier and the whole experience is generally less stressful. Needless to say that I wanted a similar experience when I got pregnant with my second child in Bangalore. To get started, I did what any other would-be mom would do. Ask a friend.

“Hey, do you know of a good gynaec?” became my catchphrase.

I asked all the friends and family members for recommendations. Within a few days, I had the names of 5-6 hospitals, which I ticked off one-by-one but with less-than-satisfactory experiences. The doctors at these hospitals kept changing and those who were constant were either intimidating or too impatient to address my anxious concerns.

Finally, help arrived from the least expected place.

A week into my doctor hunt, I was beginning to feel defeated. Finally, I decided to look up doctors on the internet and discovered Practo. It had a long list of doctors with ratings and reviews from other patients. I went through each and every patient review to determine the right doctor for me and finally booked an appointment with Dr. N Shailja. Admittedly, the moments before the consultation were tense but once the consultation was over it was pretty clear that my search had ended. I had finally found a doctor who was friendly, patient and open-minded. As opposed to feeling anxious before a doctor’s consultation, I was looking forward to my visits. Dr. Shailja was very approachable. She addressed even the most trivial concerns with a smiling face (and I’ll have you know that I can be very intimidating with lots of questions).

During the course of my pregnancy, many more surprises came to the fore: 1) Dr. Shailja understood my anxiety and entertained my queries outside appointments timings. 2) She doesn’t believe in placing restrictions on travel, flying and eating. I could do whatever I felt comfortable with, and just like that 9 months came to an end.

Today, I am a happy, proud and doting mother of two, who found the right doctor through a mobile app.

I thank Dr. Shailaja from the bottom of my heart for making my pregnancy and delivery an enjoyable journey and hope that other expecting mothers will also find the right gynaecologist for themselves.