Welcome to The Sanctum® Natural Birth Center

The Sanctum was born out of Dr Vijaya Krishnan’s deep desire to bring about positive change in birth practices in Indian hospitals. After spending nearly 15 years in the US, Dr Vijaya and her husband Krishnan Sakotai moved to India in 2004. Being a Women’s Health practitioner, what struck Dr Vijaya was that women did not have ANY say in how they want to give birth and were most often told that it is best to leave the decision making to hospitals and medical personnel. Mothers just went along, not having any voice even in cases where there was no inherent risk to her or her baby. Hospitals showed tremendous lack of transparancy and reluctance to involve mothers, partners in the decision making process. It was as if women were forced to “outsource” the task of giving birth to hospitals – a wonderful, life changing experience reduced to a cold, “matter of fact” procedure.

C-Section rates were extremely high, interventions were the rule rather than the exception, mothers voices were discouraged and ignored, “Risk” being the most cited excuse for maintaining status quo. Mothers dreaded going to hospitals for delivery, but had no other choice, and as a result accepted and bore with great patience and resigned themselves to bear procedures which could be considered borderline torturous.

Someone had to be on the mothers’ side, fighting for them!! Dr Vijaya had seen how skilled midwives cared for mothers and babies, both in Gujarat (where she grew up) and in the US (where she practiced Women’s Health). She knew immediately that the Midwifery Model of Care could be adapted to urban settings and Indian sensibilities to give a wonderful alternative to urban Indian woman who were demanding change from the medical system. She first worked on creating a platform where expecting couples could get factual, transparent  information about the whole birth process, including Pregnancy, Nurtrition, Exercises and Weight Management, knowledge of the Labor process, Pain Management during Labor, Comfort Positions to facilitate Natural progression of labor, and making couples knowledgeable about their own pregnancy and childbirth. This knowledge, which is “evidence based” at once empowered to-be-parents and made them more confident that it is they who are the primary care givers to their unborn baby. Couples came to understand which hospital practices were truly required and which ones were unnecessary, often used to suit convenience of hospitals and medical system. She introduced the world renowned Lamaze Childbirth Philosophy to Indian couples and today the Healthy Mother Lamaze Childbirth classes are the most highly valued childbirth education platform in India and one of the very few gold standard classes across the world.

She next addressed the so called “Last Mile” problem – couples who attended the Healthy Mother Lamazes classes, became knowledgeable, empowered and confident of their ability to give birth naturally, but still bumped against unsympathetic hospitals which refused to deviate from their set medical “protocols”. Dr Vijaya took the bold step to create a Birth Center based on the Midwifery Model, where mothers were equal partners in their entire pregnancy along with her midwife, and where the focus was on leveraging what is the unquestionable truth of nature – women’s bodies know how to give birth.

Helped by her husband Krishnan Sakotai, Dr Vijaya started the Healthy Mother Birth Center – a small facility in Hyderabad, co-existing in a mid sized Maternity hospital, run by Dr Jayanthi Reddy, a well know OB/Gyn who was also distressed at the high C-Section rates and wanted to improve the situation in her own hospital. A collaboration ensued where mothers received the Natural Birth focused Midwifery Care at the Healthy Mother Birth Center and in case where there was a real medical need for interventions, the emergency infrastructure of JJ Hospital would be made available in the same premises. This partnership between Dr Vijaya and Dr Jayanthi Reddy was the seed that grew into a unique, one-of-its-kind Collaborative Model of Care that is known all over the world.

At once, expecting mothers had the best of all worlds – a holistic, natural birth focused, safe, trusted place to give birth with Midwives and which had immediate availabity of emergency care at the same premises, if required. This unprecented alternative broke the stranglehold that the medical system had on mothers by empowering them with choice in how and where they gave birth.

However, it took much effort to educate mothers, partners and (more importantly, in the Indian context), families on the Midwifery Model, and fact that mothers received care from skilled and qualified Midwives rather than an OB/Gyn. Dr Vijaya passionately took on the role of an advocate for mothers, often spending hours explaining to them, their partners and families on the benefits of the Collaborative Model of Care, with facts and evidence to support her. She lectured far and wide, at nursing colleges, medical schools, doctor groups, as well at Indian and International conferences.

The response was tremendous – it was as if society was waiting for someone to “bell the cat” and bring back the pendulum to the side of mothers and babies, which till now had swung far away to favor hospitals and the medical system. Slowly but surely the tide began to change – young women who were exposed to best practices in maternal care across the world were motivated to do their own research, talk to those who had experienced Midwifery Care, ask a lot of questions (something which was actively discouraged in the Medical Model), and therefore be responsible for their own birth. It was evident for all to see – this is what women and families wanted !!

Other care providers – the traditional “assembly line” delivery places also took notice. Among them, were those who wanted to join this change movement but were unsure of internal upheavals – they also took baby steps, tiny changes in protocols while maintaining a lot of the status quo of having OB/Gyns as the primary physicians. The Collaborative Model of Care is unique – in that mothers at the Birth Center did not need to be “transferred” to a hospital if there was an emergency. Dr Vijaya and Mr Krishnan Sakotai created The Sanctum, which is perhaps unique across the world in what it offered to mothers – an environment, where they felt they were at home, surrounded by skilled care providers who were also trusted “friends”, where mothers never felt anything but a feeling of empowerment that they were giving birth on their own terms and where they could trust their bodies to be capable of giving birth without unnecessary interventions.

Dr Vijaya and her partner Dr Jayanthi Reddy work seamlessly together in a way that the mother ultimately receives the best care, no matter what situation she is in – whether she is a perfectly healthy person, or she has pre-existing condition like Diabetes, Hypertension, PCOD, or any other medical situation that would ordinarily rule her out for Natural Birth at other hospitals. At The Sanctum, such mothers and their baby’s health is managed under the watchful eyes of the two based on the Collaborative Care model. Even during labor, the presence of medical and surgical consultants ensures that the mother tries for natural labor progression till the very end before any decision is taken to operate on her. Even in that decision, the mother’s active participation is sought so that she feels she is stakeholder in the whole process.

In response to tremendous response from to-be-mothers, the Healthy Mother Birth Center outgrew its facilities and in Nov 2016, a brand new totally independant Birth Center was created in the heart of Hyderabad’s downtown. Called The Sanctum, this new Birth Center promised to be everything that an expecting mother and partner could hope for. The Sanctum, a derivative of the Sanskrit word – Garbha Griha stands for the pure, birth place of creation, where life’s energy sprouts from. We have strived to make The Sanctum such a pure, holistic and sanctified fountainhead where new life begins. Our Collaborative Model of Care can be seen to be functioning at its best here. Home-like birthing suits with Water Birth pools and 24×7 labor support provide mothers with one-to-one care during labor. Availability of on-call physicians for any medical related issues, an Operation Theater with basic NICU facility, assuaged mothers and families that she will not be “handed over” to someone else in case it is medically required to perform a C-Section or similar medical procedure. Availability of Pediatrician at most births if required, regular Pediatrics appointments, ensured continued support to babies. Post Partum counseling, including emotional counseling as well as Well Woman Care, e.g., Family Planning, Postnatal Weight Management, Lactation Counseling, are part of the Bouquet of Services offered to mothers and babies at The Sanctum. Of course, during prenatal stage, Lamaze Classes form the mainstay for education and empowerment of mothers and partners. Mind Body Wellness during the prenatal stage is ensured by our World Renowned Prenatal Yoga classes which are conducted online. Our unique Prenatal Aerobics classes are a huge hit among expecting mothers at 36 weeks and beyong, across the world :-). Our Preconception Counseling have seen lots of successes and have resulted in bundles of joy for parents.

In response to growing demand from mothers from across the world and to tackle the current pandemic we have moved all our Lamaze Classes, Yoga sessions, Aerobics Classes to Online format. Of course, all required Antenatal Checkups still happen face to face but with heightened safety protocols and measures.

In the words of  our mothers and partners, The Sanctum is a Home Away from Home, a Cocoon, a Source of Unlimited Empowerment and Self-Confidence, and Confluence of “Matru Shakti“. Come – explore what we can do for you and your baby! You will see that the people of Sanctum are Friendly, Passionate, Skilled, Trusting and truly have Your interests in mind.

Give us a call at 72071 68666 or Contact Us here and make your introduction. It will be the begining of a lasting relationship.