After 12 weeks of training in the Bradley Method, my wife and I took our birth plan to our OB/GYN, Dr. Sidney Prescott of the Women's Clinic in Portland, Ore. When we explained the Bradley concepts to him, he raised his eyebrows a bit but agreed to do his very best to honor our plan. Before we left his office, he reminded us that our goal was to have a healthy baby. That little bit of foreshadowing left a question in my mind: Would we be able to have a Bradley birth experience?

Most people recognize the work of Dr. Fernand Lamaze, the pioneer of focused breathing for pain management. Far fewer are familiar with Dr. Robert A. Bradley's dedication to natural childbirth free from pain and medical procedures and his influence on the acceptance of husbands in the delivery room.

Though current Lamaze teachings use relaxation as a way to avoid pain, much like the concepts pioneered by Dr. Bradley 40 years ago, the Bradley and Lamaze methods still differ in their approaches to medical interventions and husband-coaching. According to the position paper "Lamaze in the 21st Century," Lamaze has officially retired the concept of husband as "coach," but, rather, advocates active encouragement and support from the husband. The organization's decision was based on research published in 1992 that indicated few men actually participated as a coach even after they were trained. The Bradley Method, however, encourages active participation by the husband as coach.

As a boy, Dr. Bradley saw animals on the farm giving birth without suffering and largely without complications or medical interventions. Then, as a medical professional in the 1960s, he observed that the human experience of childbirth in America had evolved into a medical procedure. Many parents-to-be viewed giving birth as a painful problem – almost as if the baby were a tumor that needed to be removed with anesthesia, forceps or even a scalpel. Dr. Bradley wanted to focus on the joy of birth instead of the pain.

Forty years later, the Bradley philosophy runs along a continuum. Some teachers promote a strict adherence to the principles of natural childbirth, while others teach that anything is appropriate as long as there is informed consent.

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