The Odent approach was developed by the French Doctor, Michel Odent. As a general surgeon he watched women delivering babies while lying on their backs with their feet in stirrups.
Doctor Odent recognized that pushing the babies upwards against the force of gravity resulted in a longer and more painful delivery. He felt that a more traditional method of childbirth could result in a less exhausting delivery with fewer complications.
With this in mind Doctor Odent examined the traditional methods of midwifery practiced at Pithiviers in France. There he found the rates of episiotomy, forceps delivery and cesarean section were the lowest in France. At Pithiviers even mothers who would otherwise be considered high risk with complications including breech babies were able to have a successful natural childbirth with little medical interference.
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Encouraged by his findings, Doctor Michel Odent developed his own approach to childbirth. His research suggested to him that endorphins present in the body permit a mother in labor to act as if 'she is on another planet;' losing her inhibitions and following basic animal instincts. He felt it was important to provide the right environment to permit these spontaneous psychophysiological processes to occur.
Doctor Odent abandoned the concept of prenatal classes. Instead he encouraged pregnant women, their partners, doctors, midwives, children and other new parents to come together to talk, provide support and even sing. For labor he encouraged creating a calming environment with the use of a water bath to control pain in a room with few lights. During the delivery the mother is encouraged to squat, supported by her birth partner, using gravity to assist the contractions in pushing the baby.
Doctor Odent completely reevaluated the conventional methods of childbirth that are common in a hospital delivery. While his methods have yet to become routine, many of the ideas he developed are present in a home birth or birth centers.
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