The Teachings of Grantly Dick-Read

"It didn't hurt. It wasn't meant to, was it, doctor?" These words, spoken by a poor country woman after an unmedicated birth, changed the life of Grantly Dick-Read. As an English obstetrician practicing medicine in the 1920s, Dick-Read was used to birth pain being handled with chloroform, a drug that rendered birthing women unconscious. But on this fateful night, Dick-Read witnessed a woman deny chloroform and still birth her baby without a struggle.

Intrigued by this seemingly painless birth, Dick-Read went on to study, observe and write about birth as a natural process in a manuscript titled "Natural Childbirth." His findings brought personal and professional ridicule, but that did not stop him from sharing his beliefs. In fact, Dick-Read pressed onward and in 1933 his landmark book -- Childbirth Without Fear -- was published. He gained a following in England, but it wasn't until the late 1940s and early 1950s that his teachings found a receptive audience in the United States of America.

In an excerpt from his book, Childbirth Without Fear, Dick-Read explains, "There is no physiological function in the body that gives rise to pain in the normal course of health. In no other animal species is the process of birth apparently associated with any suffering, pain or agony, except where pathology exists or in an unnatural state, such as captivity."

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 the dangerous situation. As a result, the uterus was left without oxygen and could not perform its functions efficiently or without pain.

This belief led to Dick-Read's theory that fear and tension cause the labor pains in approximately 95 percent of birthing women. He termed this phenomenon "the fear-tension-pain syndrome of childbirth," and he believed that by eliminating the fear, women could return the uterus to its normal function, thereby eliminating the pain.

Despite being prepared for labor through education and relaxation tips, some women could not shake the fears associated with childbirth. Because of this, Dick-Read understood and even believed that drugs were sometimes necessary for a woman to have a satisfying birth experience.

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