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If You're Curious About Lamaze, Start With These 8 Classes On YouTube
You've likely heard of the Lamaze childbirth method, and you probably know it involves some kind of funny breathing (thanks to almost every movie scene featuring a woman in labor from the last 30 years), but that might be the extent of your knowledge. Fortunately, for the curious pregnant woman who can't leave her house, the best online Lamaze classes on YouTube range from introductory to advanced.
We can thank 1950s French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze for the word “Lamaze.” His childbirth practice of relaxation techniques came to be called the Lamaze Method after he discovered the U.S.S.R.’s use of psychoprophylaxis, a method of pain relief based on hypnosis, reported The New Republic.
Today, Lamaze is associated with natural child bearing and encompasses the use of breathing and concentration techniques designed to help women feel confident in their childbirth experience. Lamaze International, a nonprofit organization, describes its method as a way to “help reduce the use of unnecessary interventions and improve overall outcomes for mothers and babies.”
In these videos, you'll learn the fundamentals of what Lamaze entails, as well as specific exercises you can use to hopefully improve your birthing experience. There are breathing techniques, movement suggestions, pelvic floor drills, and breastfeeding advice. For more information, classes, and instructors, visit lamaze.org.
1Why Lamaze is the Best Childbirth Class: Labor Easily and Naturally
Labor and delivery nurse Mandy Irby (self dubbed the "Birth Nurse") is the host of this video series and her goal is simple: to let every parent know how capable they are of having a baby. This video is her intro to a four-part series you can order on her site mandyirby.com. In a relaxed conversational tone, the Birth Nurse breaks it down in real talk what the heck this whole Lamaze thing is all about. You'll feel like you're chatting with your BFF while gaining some valuable information.
2Lamaze: 6 Healthy Birth Practices
This video, published by Lamaze International, explains the six practices that the Lamaze Method is founded on and is a good introduction to the process should you choose to use it in your own birth plan. These six practices include: allowing labor to begin on its own; walking, moving, and changing positions throughout labor; bringing a birth partner or doula for support; avoiding medical interventions; allowing the body to follow its urges; and keeping mother and baby together after labor.
3Breathing Techniques For An Easier Labor
A big part of Lamaze is breathing, and Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator Bridget Teyler is an expert in the art. In her breathing techniques video, she walks viewers through exactly how they should control their oxygen intake during birth. The best part of this video is how Teyler walks viewers through the actual steps, demonstrating how breathing in specific ways during each point can improve laboring.
4When To Start Taking Lamaze Classes
Confused about when to even begin learning about Lamaze? Dr. Mani Pavitra talks about the right time to begin classes in her Pampered Momz video. Dr. Pavitra, a trained orthodontist, become a Lamaze enthusiast after taking Lamaze classes to prepare for the births of her two children. They led to such successful births that she became a certified Lamaze/child birth education instructor and has dedicated her work to educating parents. On her website you can find lots of videos with helpful tips.
5Tips for Childbirth: Pelvic Floor Breath Awareness
Deena Blumenfeld, a Prenatal Yoga Instructor and Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator who runs shininglightprenatal.com, fully explains an often-confusing concept: pelvic floor breathing. Learn the technique from the comfort of their own home, and if you don't think you've mastered it in your first viewing you can just hit replay (again and again).
6Walk, Move, & Change Positions
Want an up close look at a Lamaze-influenced birth? MothersAdvocate has a video explaining the benefits of walking, moving, and changing positions during labor. The idea is that women weren't meant to simply labor on their backs, and that with movement and the help of gravity, birth can be a better experience for both the mother and baby.
7Get Upright & Follow Urges To Push
Another video from MothersAdvocate, this one focuses on how getting out of the traditional horizontal position can make labor less painful. One of the more reassuring things you can do before delivery is watch other deliveries. Knowledge is power, even when it's scary!
8Lamaze International Tips for Breastfeeding
Lamaze isn't only for the birth portion of the whole "bringing your child into the world" business. They support breastfeeding as well, and in this video with Lamaze President Dr. Robin Elise Weiss, she discusses why that's so important. Lamaze firmly believes that mother and baby should not be separated following delivery. Instead, they advocate for skin-to-skin to not only encourage the bond between mother and child but to help with the first moments of breastfeeding.
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