What happened to Lamaze?

Huahine · August 2011

I never see Lamaze mentioned as a method used by women on this board or any other. But my mother and mother-in-law both assumed that I would be taking Lamaze classes. This probably dates me and my husband, but both of our moms used Lamaze to deliver us (and he has a giant head and I was 2 weeks late and breach!). It worked for them. So I'm curious why Lamaze is no longer the method of choice for expecting mothers. Any ideas?

BlinkingLight1 · August 2011

I know lots of women who take Lamaze and teach Lamaze in my local birth community.

ETA: I would say Bradley/Brio and Hypnobabies/birth are more popular, but Lamaze is still around.

Nechie122 · August 2011

Lamaze seems to get a bad rap because of the hokey breathing techniques (think 80s sitcoms) and, more seriously, because it focuses more on how to work with the hospital environment rather than managing the entire process intervention-free. In that way, you won't hear contractions referred to as "surges" or anything like that -- and many women who choose Lamaze may just be looking for ways to cope with early labor, not to necessarily go through labor sans drugs.

That said, DH and I took Lamaze earlier this year and found it decently helpful. We did learn some breathing exercises (none of which I ultimately used), but I found the various laboring positions and counter-pressure techniques we learned to be pretty useful. I also appreciated knowing what our particular hospital's policies were ahead of time.

I've heard that Lamaze has evolved over the past few decades to be more like Bradley, but I can't personally compare the two. I do think various techniques come in and out of vogue, and Lamaze is out and Bradley and Hypnobirthing are in.

mrsashkennedy · August 2011

I've heard from some that Lamaze has become more hospital run, and that it sometimes gets a bad rap as some classes teach you how to cope, but with the understanding that an epi is at hand if you REALLY want it and that can set you up to end up taking one in the heat of the moment. Maybe this is in my areas,idk. My birthing classes wont follow any specific method I'm told. But I'm also birthing at a bc. I think the local hospital has Lamaze but only if you birth there. And the hospital itself has a horrible reputation.

LindseyJW · August 2011

pretty much what others have said!

my mom also took lamaze!

over the past two decades, the Lamaze approach has changed, and not for the better (if an unmedicated birth without unnecessary interventions is your goal). the approach has been influenced by hospital routines.

quite unfortunate.

MsCrispy · August 2011

I'm following the Bradley method and I remember them comparing its breathing techniques to Lamaze. It was fairly critical and made it sounds like Lamaze would make you hyperventilate rather than really help you relax.

alliapistor · August 2011

Lamaze is offered at the hospital near us and we considered it, but decided against it. My reasons were: (1) I'm asthmatic and didn't like the focus on short breaths. Although I've heard that this is less of an issue now, I couldn't tell that from the materials available for the classes offered. (2) I didn't feel like a 1 or even 2 day crash course, which is how it was offered near me, would be as effective in preparing me for a medfree birth as compared with a 10 or 12 week Bradley course.

ctygrlstl · August 2011

MsCrispy:
I'm following the Bradley method and I remember them comparing its breathing techniques to Lamaze. It was fairly critical and made it sounds like Lamaze would make you hyperventilate rather than really help you relax.

Lol, that reminds me of once when I was a kid, I tried out the 'hoo hoo hee' breathing thing. I guess I did it too long, because I got dizzy and ended up on the floor, haha!! I will say, though, it did relax me... in the way that passing out relaxes a person Tongue Tied Since then I've always thought the hokey breathing thing was silly. I did have a surprising number of people ask when I was going to take a Lamaze class, hubby included. I thought it had been completely discredited by now, but apparently it's making a comeback, modernizing, getting rid of it's hokey-ness. But it's much more 'hospital-oriented' than other methods, like pp said. So it's still around, just in a new package.

tokenhoser · August 2011

I read and enjoyed a fairly new Lamaze book. The breathing thing really isn't used any more, so hyperventilating isn't an issue.

Personally, I think it's mostly marketing. There's money in the various schools of birthing.

MrsLifeofReilly · August 2011

"Lamaze seems to get a bad rap because of the hokey breathing techniques (think 80s sitcoms) and, more seriously, because it focuses more on how to work with the hospital environment rather than managing the entire process intervention-free. In that way, you won't hear contractions referred to as "surges" or anything like that -- and many women who choose Lamaze may just be looking for ways to cope with early labor, not to necessarily go through labor sans drugs."

Wait! Please don't bash Lamaze based on popular perception or what your local hospital offers for "Lamaze" classes.

I'm an independent (that's the key word) Lamaze instructor and my classes are anything but what the other poster describes above. The Lamaze organization is very focused on evidence based information and natural birth. The old breathing is out - various types of breathing are discussed but there is no specific 'method'. Instructors are able to design their own courses and that is where you see the variation. With a hospital class, the instructors are just teaching what the hospital tells them to. My classes are 8 weeks long (with 20 hours total of instruction time) and devote a lot of time to healthy pregnancy, unmedicated labor coping skills, partner support, breastfeeding and evaluating the risk vs need of medical interventions. I did my training with Passion for Birth (it is a Lamaze approved course). I think that it is more important to choose an independent (not hospital based) class where the individual curriculum and instructor are a good fit for you rather than a particular method (personally I'm a 2x hypnobabies mom, because hypnosis works great for me).

I chose to certify with Lamaze because I think evidence based information is important, I like their philosophy (see below) and I wanted an organization that would allow me to design my own classes.

The Lamaze philosophy are their 6 steps to healthy birth, you can see them outlined here in free online videos https://www.injoyvideos.com/mothersadvocate/videos.html

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