Times of India
27 October 2010
By Yogesh Avasthi

Children’s University has gone beyond researching curriculum and activities; it has set up six ‘tapovans’ to take pre–natal care of children and mothers for their healthy growth
Children’s University has set up six centres for holistic care of expecting mothers to help them give birth to babies who are healthy, both physically and mentally.

Called "Tapovan", these centres expose mothers–to–be to an environment as natural and simple as possible. Greenery has been created around the tapovans and interiors made such that they fill the women with "positive energy," said a senior university official. Each tapovan has full–time physicians – practising allopathy and ayurveda – nurses and maids to take care of the women.

They will be given necessary medical care and medicine free. While healthy food and snacks will be available at the tapovan, expecting mother will be given a diet chart so that they can take care of themselves at home.

The university’s brief, at the time of its foundation, was to research the educational and co–curricular needs of children. However, influenced by mythology, in which children were shown to have learnt skills while being in the womb, it has extended its brief to pre–natal care, too.

A foetus stays about 280 days in the womb and it has been established that the mother’s health, activities and thought process affect its growth, according to the official.

Inspiring literature from various religions and various audio–video programmes will be available for the women to go through, which the university feels will put mother–tobe at ease and help foetus’s healthy growth. The centre will run from 8 am to 8 pm and if the women so desire they can stay there for the duration.

The six centres have been set up at Rajorpura, Sarsa, Thamana and Tarapur in Anand, and Gandhinagar to begin with. More centres are likely to come up in the future, the official said.