It is a philosophy that emerged in the 50s from the hand of the French obstetrician Ferdinand Lamaze that promotes conscious childbirth without pain.
He maintains that childbirth is a normal, miraculous, natural and prefect physiological process, and teaches the woman to give birth with confidence, to consciously live that great moment, as it happened before when women gave birth in their homes.
In the childbirth preparation classes of this method, mothers are instructed to control breathing, relaxation techniques, distraction techniques and massages to release stress and relieve the sensation of pain at the time of giving birth.
The Lamaze method, also called the psycho-prophylactic method, affirms that fear conditions the woman and is one of the factors that can cause difficulties in childbirth.
The obstetrician devised, in the last century, some exercises based on tactile (massage), visual (relaxation through visualization) and auditory (words of encouragement) stimuli so that mothers could move away the painful sensations caused by contractions.
In the exercises, the father plays a fundamental part in assisting the woman with massage and psychological support so that both can actively share the birth of their baby.
It does not mean that the method is against the use of epidural anesthesia if you wish, only that it promotes techniques so that you can better cope with the pain of childbirth.
Today, the technique is quite widespread and the Lamaze philosophy goes beyond a method of childbirth to also become an early education philosophy that conceives of paternity as a vital function.
If you are interested, in addition to the official website Lamaze.org, there is a blog Giving Birth with confidence (in English) of the authors of the Official Guide to the Lamaze Method.
