The oldest method of childbirth was developed by Doctor Grantly Dick-Read. Doctor Dick-Read introduced the concept of natural childbirth to mothers and the world of medicine.
He was also instrumental in bringing fathers into the birth experience to help provide emotional support and to help eliminate fear and tension. The idea was to provide prenatal classes that would promote relaxation by thoroughly educating mothers about the process of labor and childbirth.
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Doctor Dick-Read believed that pain during childbirth was caused by a chain of events leading to labor. He felt that ignorance was the cause of fear, which promoted tension and thus pain in the patient.
To overcome this fear, the Read method provided full and accurate information about the childbearing process, along with exercises to promote physical preparation, and relaxation through breathing.
Classes using the Dick-Read method also include discussion about breastfeeding. Doctor Grantly Dick-Read's watchword was preparation through information and the search for help, emotional support, reassurance and sympathy.
If the concepts in the Dick-Read method seem routine it is perhaps because all of his ideas have been adopted by most childbirth educators. Today there are few teachers of the Dick-Read method but his legacy remains in all childbirth classes taught today.
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