The Lamaze method teaches women to respond positively to the pain of labor. Mothers are taught to relax during the contraction with the help of a birth partner, contributing to the process of labor without the use of drugs.
The Lamaze method, technically called psychoprophylaxis, was pioneered in Russia following the reports of Ivan Pavlov's research into stimulus-response conditioning in dogs. It is named after the French doctor who developed the technique. Today over ninety percent of Russian women and seventy percent of French women use the Lamaze method, although they know it as accouchement sans douleur or 'birth without pain'.
The Lamaze method of psychoprophylaxis was brought to the United States by Elizabeth Bing and it is now taught by the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics. It is also one of a range of childbirth techniques taught by the teachers of the International Childbirth Education Association.
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The Lamaze method, or psychoprophylaxis trains women to concentrate on breathing rather than relaxation. Beginning by 'deconditioning' women from their fears and doubts about labor and delivery, the second stage teaches them to respond to contractions as stimuli rather than pain.
Breathing exercises practiced by both the mother and the birth partner to teach the mother to relax her muscles during contractions make the Lamaze method a rewarding team effort, and teach both partners information about the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy and labor.
Many women like the Lamaze method because it is a natural method of childbirth that does not require the intervention of drugs or medical supervision. This gives mothers control over the delivery of their baby.
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Modern Lamaze practitioners have removed much of the dogma that used to surround the classes. Breathing is no longer as regimented as it once was, and Lamaze classes have become much more relaxed enviroments. Teachers are now skilled at providing anxious mothers with psychological counseling and many educators have developed their own approaches to childbirth.
While the name acouchement sans douleur may suggest that you will have a pain free labor, this is certainly not true. Pain is present in Lamaze childbirth, and efforts are made to channel that energy to help the birthing process. Unfortunately many women worry that the pain they feel during a Lamaze childbirth means that something is going wrong, and responses to pain vary from woman to woman.
If you plan to give birth using the Lamaze method you should be prepared to be very committed, since it will require considerable patience and much hard work. But those women who do give birth using the Lamaze methods confirm that the results can be very rewarding.
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