TheLamaze technique, also known as thepsychoprophylactic method or simplyLamaze, began as a prepared childbirth technique. As an alternative to medical intervention duringchildbirth, it was popularized in the 1950s by FrenchobstetricianFernand Lamaze and based on his observations in theSoviet Union. The goal of Lamaze is to build a mother's confidence in her ability to give birth, through classes that help pregnant women understand how to cope with pain in ways that both facilitate labor and promote comfort, includingrelaxation techniques, movement, andmassage.[1]
There is a training and certification program available to practitioners, leading to the Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE) designation.[2]
Fernand Lamaze visited theSoviet Union in the 1950s, and was influenced by birthing techniques which involved breathing and relaxation methods.[3] The Lamaze method gained popularity in the United States after Marjorie Karmel wrote about her experiences in her 1959 bookThank You, Dr. Lamaze, as well asElisabeth Bing's bookSix Practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth (1960). Both Karmel and Bing would later found the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics in 1960, later renamed toLamaze International.[4]
Lamaze himself has been criticized for being over-disciplinary andanti-feminist. Natural childbirth activistSheila Kitzinger's description of the methods he deployed while working in a Paris clinic during the 1950s expresses concern regarding "the disciplinary nature" of Lamaze's approach to childbirth. According to Kitzinger, Lamaze consistently ranked the women's performance in childbirth from "excellent" to "complete failure" on the basis of their "restlessness and screams". Those who "failed" were, he thought, "themselves responsible because they harbored doubts or had not practiced sufficiently", and "intellectual" women who "asked too many questions" were considered by Lamaze to be the most "certain to fail".[5]
The Lamaze technique has also been criticized for being ineffective.[6][7]
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