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ABSTRACT
This year's 50th anniversary of Lamaze International is a time to reflect upon our past and present as we work together to build the future of childbirth. In the 1950s and 1960s, thoughtful men and women such as Elisabeth Bing began to look carefully at the birthing practices in the United States. Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educators became leaders in improving birthing practices by teaching women and their partners the truth about how women were cared for during childbirth. Currently, the rise in maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States illustrates the pressing need for more changes. Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educators are leading change by pushing for the wide adoption of Lamaze International's Six Healthy Birth Practices to promote natural, safe, and healthy birth.
The Journal of Perinatal Education, 19(3), 8-10, doi: 10.1624/105812410X514387
Keywords: childbirth educators, Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educators, maternal mortality, maternal morbidity, safe birth practices
This year's 50th anniversary of Lamaze International is a time to reflect upon our past and present as we work together to build the future of childbirth.
What has remained constant over these past 50 years and beyond is that women giving birth want a healthy baby and to give birth in a manner that is safe for themselves and their babies. Family members, friends, and religious leaders also want the women and the babies born into their families and communities to be safe and healthy. Health-care providers, midwives, nurses, doctors, and childbirth educators want safe and healthy babies and mothers. All leaders in public health departments, corporations, government agencies, and insurance and liability companies want safe and healthy babies and mothers. However, the challenge in the face of this constant desire is that many diverse, harmful, and contradictory birth practices emerge under the banner of ''safe and healthy.''
THE PAST 50 YEARS
The primary cultural assumption driving decisions about birth in the United States is that technological and scientific advancements improve outcomes (Jordan, 1993). For example, under the banner of safety improvements, the following practices were widely adopted over the past five decades: hospital operating suites over home birth settings, formula over breastmilk, doctors over midwives, separation of mothers and babies over keeping mothers and babies together, and drugs over nonmedicated births. In contrast, the...