Revisiting the classics in childbirth education

In celebration of Lamaze International's 50th anniversary, reviewers share their thoughts on some classic Lamaze resource materials and how their content relates to today's viewpoints on birth and childbirth education. Although some of the material may be outdated, all of the resources offer timeless insights as well as a unique view on the history of childbirth education. The following topics are addressed: past cultural views of birth; advocacy for change in birth practices; Lamaze method; pioneers in childbirth; importance of childbirth education; and birth advocacy.     

Evoking the power of learners

Our mandate, as Lamaze International childbirth educators, is to assist women in making healthy pregnancy, birth, and parenting choices. Being mindful of health promotion theory and using learning tasks and dialogue education to provide information creates a collaborative Lamaze class where the teacher is the facilitator and the learners are accountable for their learning. This column offers Lamaze educators a deeper understanding of adult learners and our roles in their birth education.     

Lamaze certified childbirth educators: drawing strength from our past to build the future

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.     

What to Teach?

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education discusses why Lamaze International conducts a comprehensive job analysis of what childbirth educators are teaching and their beliefs of what is important for pregnant women and their partners to learn. The editor also describes the contents of this issue, which offer a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote, support, and protect natural, safe, and healthy birth.     

JPE: Making a Global Impact

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education (JPE) discusses how Lamaze International and JPE are making a global impact in advancing normal birth. The editor also describes the contents of this issue, which offer a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote normal birth.     

Continuing Education Module: How to Connect With Parents by Using Updated Lamaze Messages

Lamaze International partnered with Edelman, an international public relations firm, to re-brand the organization through its messaging to elevate its relevance among key stakeholders. Sound primary and secondary research revealed new ways to communicate the Lamaze message to women, their families, and their care providers. Various tips and tools are presented in this article to enable childbirth educators, care providers, and birth advocates to communicate these new messages more effectively to parents.     

Continuing Education Module Styles Vary When Teaching Expectant Parents About Medications

In this column, the author presents information from prominent Lamaze childbirth educators and from the literature to describe various options that educators can share with expectant parents regarding the use of pain relief medications during labor and birth. Ann Tumblin teaches about epidurals in a hospital class without losing sight of evidence-based practices that support normal birth. Jessica English focuses her classes on the natural processes of giving birth and spends only a little time presenting information about pain medications. Judith Lothian encourages educators to consider a new framework for Lamaze classes that involves letting go of the details and incorporating Lamaze’s six Healthy Birth Practices and storytelling.     

Giving Birth: “We Just Don’t Talk About It”

In this column, Alyson Grauer, a young woman recently embarking on her postuniversity career, shares her experiences with friends who do not talk about childbirth. She contrasts their fear and their unwillingness to talk and learn about birth with her own experience being the daughter of a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and doula. Grauer’s experiences provide a backdrop for a deeper understanding of young adults’ beliefs about childbirth. Judith Lothian provides insight related to when and why women and men stopped talking about birth and the implications for childbirth education.     

Making a difference with evidence

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education describes how, despite the many challenges confronting childbirth educators today in our complex health-care environment, there is still a ray of hope that committed individuals translating evidence into practice can make a difference. The editor also describes the contents of this special issue, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of Lamaze International and offers a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote natural, safe, and healthy birth.     

Continuing education module-lamaze parents magazine: more than a giveaway

The Lamaze Parents magazine is an annual publication produced by Lamaze International to inform parents and childbirth educators on issues related to healthy birth preparation, normal birth, and parenting. The author of this column introduces teaching strategies for childbirth educators and doulas to use in tandem with the magazine's content in order to enhance their efforts in sharing current, evidence-based information with expectant parents.     

Making the most of your revista lamaze: culturally responsive teaching for Hispanic clients

The traditional classroom in many Latin American countries does not overtly support an environment of discussion, reflection, and analysis-the foundation of a Lamaze education. Even when working with couples from cultures that reflect learning styles different from our own, it is possible for the childbirth educator to be faithful to the goals of Lamaze education by changing the way in which information is presented and by encouraging learner participation. By using Revista Lamaze, combined with culturally appropriate teaching techniques, a childbirth educator can successfully educate Hispanic couples without offending their culture.     

The history of lamaze continues: an interview with elisabeth bing

Elisabeth Bing-physiotherapist, childbirth educator, and cofounder of the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics (now Lamaze International)-is well known to most childbirth educators in the United States. She has been a true pioneer in the education of parents for pregnancy and birth. Her book, Six Practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth, served to guide many parents and childbirth educators in the use of the Lamaze Method for labor and birth. She has prepared a countless number of parents for their birth experience in both her hospital classes in the 1950s and 1960s and in her private classes in the "studio" of her New York City apartment building, where she began teaching in the 1960s and continues to teach today. Elisabeth is beloved by all those who have had the opportunity to meet her or work with her. She has created a legacy that will continue for decades to come.     

Creating Community

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education describes ways that Lamaze International is helping to create a community for those who share a common interest in promoting, supporting, and protecting natural, safe, and healthy childbirth. The editor also describes the contents of this issue, which offer a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote normal birth.     

Continuing Education Module Top 10: Tips on Teaching Lamaze Classes

Lamaze classes should help women think differently about birth, dispel myths, and ultimately make informed decisions that are right for them. In the current maternity care environment, this is a monumental task. In this column, the authors discuss 10 teaching tips that serve as a guide for teaching childbirth classes and ultimately facilitate learning.     

The power of numbers: transforming birth through collaborations

Collaborative efforts and coalitions have replaced exclusivity as birth organizations and individuals unite to humanize birth and provide women with transparency of information about maternity care providers and facilities and about access to the midwifery model of care. The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services and the upcoming 2010 "Mega Conference" to jointly celebrate the 50th anniversaries of Lamaze International and the International Childbirth Education Association serve as excellent examples of collaborative efforts to support natural, safe, and healthy birth practices as well as women's choices in childbirth. Childbirth educators are encouraged to learn from and support national coalitions devoted to improving maternity care and to use local resources to develop their own collaborative efforts on behalf of childbearing families.     

They Said So on the News: Parsing Media Reports About Birth

In this column, the authors reprise recent selections from the Lamaze International research blog, Science & Sensibility. Each selection discusses shortcomings in the news media coverage of childbirth issues. The authors demonstrate how to identify misleading claims in the media and highlight how childbirth educators can apply a common-sense approach and careful fact checking to help women understand the whole story.     

Position paper: promoting, supporting, and protecting normal birth

This updated position paper contrasts medical management of labor and birth with the normal physiology of birth and describes the care practices that support and facilitate the normal process. Lamaze International urges care providers to adopt these care practices as the standard of care, unless evidence-based medical reasons dictate otherwise. The roles of Lamaze-certified childbirth educators and the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth in protecting, preserving, and promoting normal birth are described.     

Using the official lamaze guide in childbirth education classes

Normal birth has long been promoted by Lamaze International in its mission and vision statements and by the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth. The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth with Confidence, a book by Judith Lothian and Charlotte DeVries, can be used by birth educators to alter the focus from learning what to expect when one fears the worst to empowering women to understand that birth is usually a healthy, normal process. In this column, the author suggests ways in which childbirth educators can use The Official Lamaze Guide in their classes.     

The journey of an early lamaze childbirth educator

The author, who accomplished the majority of her work as a childbirth educator while based in Tampa, Florida, journals the experience of being an early pioneer in promoting Lamaze childbirth in the United States, beginning in the 1960s. Many aspects of her story are common to the stories of other childbirth educators who also pioneered the childbirth movement in the United States during the same time frame. This history is presented for its potential usefulness to those who continue to work to advance the Lamaze International goal of promoting normal birth.     

Selling normal birth: six ways to make birth easier

In this column, a reader expresses concern at the declining number of women attending childbirth classes and her inability to influence a woman's decision to choose normal birth. It may be more effective to market Lamaze as a way to have an easier birth rather than a normal birth. The six care practices that promote, support, and protect normal birth are suggested as a framework for teaching Lamaze classes with the goal of having an easier labor and birth.