What’s in it for Me?
A Comparison of Today’s Most Popular Childbirth Education Classes
Written by: Elaine Stillerman, LMT
When expectant couples consider taking a childbirth education class, the one that comes to mind most often is Lamaze®. But did you ever think what childbirth was like before these classes came about and how they became so popular in the United States?
Women who use the Lamaze® method to control labor pain have Elisabeth Bing to thank for championing and pioneering this invaluable technique. Born in Berlin, Germany, and now in her 80s, Elisabeth popularized Lamaze® in America and has personally trained over 10,000 couples. She is also the author of numerous books that have helped countless women understand and accept their bodies during pregnancy, labor and the postpartum recovery process.
When Elisabeth first learned about French doctor Fernand Lamaze’s (1890-1957) technique in the 1950s, American women were given ‘twilight sleep,’ a combination of three drugs, to help them forget the pain and the birth experience itself. In other words, she was not an active participant in the birthing experience—instead, the birth just sort of happened to her. Some women had one hand and one leg bound (handcuffed) to the table and were placed on their backs with their legs in stirrups. Many of the births in those days were instrumental births (using instruments, such as forceps, to help deliver the baby) and almost every woman was given an episiotomy to widen the vaginal outlet.
Dr. Lamaze believed that women had the right to enjoy a different birth experience where they could participate in the process. He strongly believed in family-centered maternity care—a revolutionary idea at the time. The Lamaze® method supports birth as normal, natural and healthy, and empowers expectant women to make informed decisions. His philosophy was that the birth experience profoundly affects women and their families and that a woman’s inner wisdom can guide her through childbirth. He believed a woman’s confidence and ability to birth is either enhanced or diminished by the care provider and the place of birth.
In the 1960s, Elisabeth brought this philosophy to women who were not used to making decisions about their bodies and birth. She admits that it was a hard sell at first, but slowly, more and more women embraced the idea of drug-free childbirth and controllable pain. She encourages and teaches women that they have the right to give birth free from routine medical interventions and controls, and believes that birth can safely take place at home, as well as in birth centers and hospitals.
Lamaze® training teaches breathing and relaxation techniques to ease pain and anxiety during childbirth and promote a calmer experience. Classes include normal labor, birth and early postpartum physiology, labor support, communication skills, information about medical procedures, breastfeeding and healthy lifestyles.
Two other popular childbirth methods include the Bradley Method® and HypnoBirthing®. While both have some similarities to Lamaze®, each is unique in what it offers women. Research each method out to determine which one most closely fits your personality and birthing goals, then check to see where the closest practitioner is to you.
Bradley Method®
The Bradley Method® is often referred to as ‘husband-coached childbirth’ and teaches that “with proper education, preparation, and the help of a loving and supportive coach, women can be taught to give birth naturally. It is a simple method of increasing self-awareness, teaching a woman how to deal with the stress of labor by tuning in to her own body. The Bradley Method® encourages mothers to trust their bodies using natural breathing, relaxation, nutrition, exercise, and education.”
Traditionally offered in 12 sessions, a major goal of this method is the avoidance of medications unless absolutely necessary. Other main topics include the importance of good nutrition and exercise during pregnancy, relaxation techniques (such as deep breathing and concentration on body signals) as a method of coping with labor, and the empowerment of parents to trust their instincts and become active, informed participants in the birth process. Although Bradley emphasizes a birth experience without pain medication, the classes do prepare parents for unexpected complications or situations, like emergency cesarean sections. After the birth, immediate breast-feeding and constant contact between parents and baby is encouraged.
Source: kidshealth.org; bradleybirth.com
HypnoBirthing®
HypnoBirthing®, founded by Marie Mongan (and commonly referred to as “The Mongan Method”), is a childbirth method based on the teachings of Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, a pioneering obstetrician and author of Childbirth without Fear. “Dr. Dick-Read hypothesized that the fear felt by a woman during childbirth caused blood to be filtered away from her uterus, so it could be used by the muscles that would flee a potentially dangerous situation (a phenomenon our bodies naturally do when exposed to something our brains perceive as dangerous, known as the “fight or flight response”). As a result, the uterus was left without oxygen and could not perform its functions efficiently or without pain.
“This belief led to Dr. Dick-Read's theory, that fear and tension cause labor pains in approximately 95 percent of birthing women. He termed this phenomenon ‘the fear-tension-pain syndrome’ of childbirth, and believed that by eliminating the fear, women could return the uterus to its normal function, thereby eliminating the pain.”
The main basis of HypnoBirthing® is about eliminating the fear of childbirth (as well as other fears in life, including relational fears, financial fears, and fears related to becoming a parent) and teaching yourself to move into a state of complete and total relaxation—especially during contractions. This allows the muscular layers of the uterus to work together as they should, thereby greatly decreasing the pain normally involved in childbirth. HypnoBirthing® is typically taught in a series of five, two-and-a-half hour classes, often earlier on in pregnancy (compared to traditional childbirth education, usually offered in the last trimester). Classes cover traditional topics, such as the labor and birth process and birthing positions, but also include labor physiology (i.e. how our bodies work when perceiving fear compared to how they work when relaxed and free of fear and tension), prenatal bonding, and deep relaxation using self-hypnosis techniques.
Source: hypnobirthing.com; hypnobirthing.co.uk
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