Dr. Vijaya Krishnan is a certified professional midwife (CPM), the co-founder and director of Healthy Mother Sanctum Natural Birth Center, and the leading official Lamaze-certified childbirth educator (LCCE) in India. She is a graduate of the midwifery program from National College of Midwifery, in the US. The Sanctum Natural Birth Center is India's only midwife-led, freestanding birth center with emergency care infrastructure built in. Vijaya has developed a unique collaborative model of care, which is midwife-led but supported by a backup medical team comprised of Ob/Gyns, when required, This unique model does not deprive so-called "high risk" moms from trying for midwife-led care, because in case of an emergency they do not need to be transported elsewhere but can be attended to safely in the same premises in the presence of their midwife. This model of care has allowed moms with GDM, PIH, breech presentation, etc., to safely experience the power of natural birth, while simultaneously benefiting from continuity of care.
As a Lamaze-certified childbirth educator, Vijaya runs the Healthy Mother Lamaze-accredited Childbirth Educator Program, which educates and certifies Lamaze educators all over India. With a doctorate in physical therapy and physical therapy education as well, she has created focused woman-centric fitness and wellness programs that cover the entire gamut of perinatal care—from the antenatal to the postnatal.
Vijaya has had articles published in Midwifery Today, Journal of Perinatal Education, and online in MIDIRS, as well. Since 2016, she has lectured widely and run workshops on gentle birth practices and respectful maternity care at universities and medical/nursing colleges in India, to sensitize the key care providers regarding wide adoption of these practices.
Currently, she is working hard as a part of Birth India, an NGO and a national advocacy group, to help shape public policy in making autonomous midwifery a recognised and independent profession in India.
Photo by Pablo Heimplatz
Despite two cesareans, this mother was able to have the VBAC she desired, with the help of the author.
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Read more…. VBA2C: A Story of Grit, Commitment, and the Quest for a Natural Birth
Leilani Rogers—photosbylei.com
Midwife Vijaya Krishnan gives the readers of Midwifery Today a helpful article that will educate them on how best to avoid a primary cesarean. Read more…. Prevention of the Primary Cesarean Section: Facts, Myths, and Tips