I have known Sanctum from the past two plus years passively, as my best childhood buddy – who is no less than a sibling to me – had opted to deliver at #TheSanctum after she had faced nightmare experiences in her initial months of checkups at private hospitals in Bangalore, who scared her not to get off the bed etc etc. But once she found The Sanctum, and spoke to Vijaya Mam, she was much, much relieved, happy, and from then started to enjoy her pregnancy; And, finally she delivered at The Sanctum! After knowing about the birthing process at Sanctum, I decided that if I ever plan a baby, I wi give birth at Sanctum only, because in this commercial world, a natural birthing process also has become so challenging. In such case, undergoing care at The Sanctum is no less than a blessing.

And yeah now comes my journey..😄 I was in Gujarat as my husband worked there when I conceived my first baby in Jan 2019. In my third month, we thought its time to contact Sanctum i.e., Vijaya Ma’am. I already knew by then the model of care and how Vijaya Ma’am and the entire team helps throughout the labor as I have seen two of my closest people deliver their babies there. Even my husband knew it all and he was pretty confident, but it is a totally different experience when you are having your own baby, so I wanted my husband also to speak to Ma’am once and have his doubts cleared . So we scheduled a skype consult with Ma’am..That skype consult was less a consult and more of an eyeopener for us about many things and how beautiful a pregnancy can be instead of too many restrictions and too much immobility. Ma’am was very open about everything and patient enough to answer our questions and no where in a hurry to end the call, and I must mention that she had not slept through the previous night as she had to attend a new born who was not well and the very next morning she was ready to talk to us with the same energy and patience, by which we were totally convinced we are in safe hands of care! I used to update her regularly with my scan reports, and we moved to Delhi too, I was in touch by phone/whatsapp.

I came down to Hyderabad to my mom’s place in July, which was my 7th month, and the very next day I had joined lamaze classes at Sanctum..
#LamazeClasses were so helpful as we were told about every small thing related to pregnancy, labor, and every minute detail, and it was an open platform for questions n answers, and even practically showing us through role plays, and all what a labor really means and how a partner plays an important role throughout the process..Though my husband couldnt attend the classes as he was working n Delhi, I used to brief him after the class.

Together we were being prepared for the big day. I personally was very much impressed and touched by the basic concept of Sanctum, involving husbands in the whole process especially in the labor room which is the rarest thing to happen in Indian hospitals. No one actually realizes what it really feels and means to have your partner beside you while you are birthing the little one whom you both have created!

So I was done with my Lamaze classes, I was doing my yoga and exercises taught in lamaze classes and was walking and remained active .. Weeks were progressing, baby’s position was fine and touchwood everything else was going fine without any complications. My due date was 27th Sep and my husband had come down on the 20 th Sep and we were waiting with fingers crossed when will it all start n how is it going to be.

Big Day:
On Sep 24th morning at 6 a.m., I woke up out of my bed to realize I was having a gush of fluid leaking out, I wanted to be sure so checked myself and was almost sure it was my bag of water. I woke my husband up and told him calmly 😁 I think my water broke call Vijaya Mam.. He called her and she asked me the symptoms and asked me to calm down and eat well and relax and as I had no contractions at all, she asked me to wait for it and once come in the noon for a checkup.

At around 3:30 p.m. we had gone for a checkup and had a CTG done. After an hour I was able to feel contractions which were 20 mins apart. We went back home and relaxed and planned to come when contractions progressed..I tried to eat, but could not eat much and I tried to sleep by 8 p.m., but by then my contraction frequency decreased to 10 minutes apart, with heavy contractions.. We called mam at around 11 p.m. to inform. She told me to take a nice hot water shower and relax and told my husband to note down the contractions and inform her after half an hour. After the shower, contractions were fluctuating between 5 and 7 minutes but they were strong contractions.

We informed Vijaya Mam at 12 a.m. and she told us to come to the center. It was raining and we drove to the center and Kiran and Vijaya Mam were there. Mam had to leave as she was leaving for Mumbai that morning, but she stayed back to check on me. Kiran and Mam were checking on my contractions and the fetal heartbeat was fine, but I had slight fever and necessary IV was given and fever came down and my comtractions were progressing, but were not consistent so we waited and Mam had to leave..She gave her magical hug and left wishing us good luck.

My contractions slowly progressed at around 3 a.m. and I was doing squats and lunges and all possible exercises with the immense support of my husband, Kiran, and sister Vijayakumari. They kept me hydrated throughout n my husband was feeding me every now and then to boost my energy.

At around 10 a.m., I was fully dilated and they could see my little one’s hair strands 😁 but my pushing phase was a little long and tough, but throughout I could see was a positive atmosphere and such good vibes and not even a pinch of tiredness or any kind of discouraging behaviors from anyone. Especially Kiran.. she was there with me from midnight 1 a.m till I delivered that afternoon 1:30 p.m!! All I could hear in the room was “you can do it ..try.. relax..take ur time.. dont worry we are there to support you”. Finally at 1:30 p.m., our little one was in our hands. 💓

Labor is stressful, painful, exhausting, a rebirth for the mother, especially when its a natural birth, but with a team like The Sanctum, the experience becomes a wonderful memory for lifetime! Most importantly, experiencing the whole thing with your partner in the labor room, holding your hand throughout and passively experiencing equal amount of stress and pain though not physically, definitely mentally, doubles your energy and make you feel – Yes, WE can do it TOGETHER! No words can actually describe that feeling. Every member of the team is so warm and welcoming right from Vijaya Krishnan Mam, Crystal, Kiran, Security, Mounika, Radhika Mam, Sisters Vijayakumari, Sangeeta, Sukeerta, Ramya, and Ayammas Manjula and Alivelu❣️💜❣️

We cannot thank each and every staff of The Sanctum who made our journey of birthing such a beautiful experience. The Sanctum is like a home for us, and the team is no less than a family member 😊