Posted on 05/16/2015 11:16:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway
When Elisabeth Bing became interested in childbirth techniques in the 1950s, women were often heavily medicated, dads were generally nowhere near the delivery room and expectant parents had far less information than many do today.
Bing, the Lamaze International co-founder who popularized what was known as natural childbirth and helped change how women and doctors approached the delivery room, died Friday at 100 in her New York apartment, the organization said Saturday. The cause of her death wasn't immediately known.
Trained as a physical therapist, Bing taught breathing and relaxation techniques to generations of expectant mothers, wrote several books about birth and pregnancy and encouraged women _ and men _ to be more prepared, active and inquisitive participants in the arrival of their babies.
"I was certainly considered a radical," she wrote in Lamaze's magazine in 1990. By then, she noted, childbirth education had become common: "This so-called fad has been proven not to be a fad."
Born July 8, 1914, in Berlin, Bing fled Nazi Germany with her family for England, where she got her physical therapy training. Working with new mothers got her thinking about delivery practices, an interest she brought with her to the United States in 1949.
She learned about ideas advanced by some doctors, including French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze, for using breathing and mental preparation to manage labor pain without medication. She and the late Marjorie Karmel established what is now Lamaze International in 1960 to spread the strategies. (Bing gave birth herself at 40, going into a fast labor during which she was given spinal anesthesia and nitric oxide. She told The New York Times in 2004 that she'd gleaned that childbirth training wasn't about refusing drugs, but rather about teaching a woman "to help herself as far as she can go.")
Lamaze became a household word, woven into pop culture in places from a 1980s Bill Cosby comedy routine to the TV show "Friends" in the 1990s. Its signature classes involved both women and men, with the idea that fathers could provide emotional and mental support in the delivery room. Over the years, the idea of refusing all painkillers during labor fell out of favor with many women, and some couples sought shorter birth preparation classes than Bing's six-week program.
Still, "I feel we have changed the whole attitude toward obstetrics and pregnant women, not necessarily technical changes, but the psychological and practical approaches to pregnancy," she told The New York Sun in 2004.
Because of Lamaze or HMOs?
Probably follow the money. I think it changed to 1-day prior to HMOs.
My mother spent 10 days in the hospital after my older brother was born. By the time I came along, it was a week.
I do think 36 hours is not enough.
If only she had remembered to breathe!
I’m pretty sure I wished her dead about 29 years ago during 32 hours of labor. Kudos to her for going against the medical establishment and bringing change.
My wife went natural for our first child. Although IIRC it was about midway and she is yelling “give me the shot!” but it was too late for that.
When she delivered the second time (twins) - there was no question about it!
In the late 30s my mother, who had natural, problem-free childbirth with my brother, spent 8 days in the general hospital. The bill? $8.00.
I found it among her effects, after she passed. She kept b/c it seemed so outrageous by today’s standards!
Would Laz hit it? or is this about something different?
I guess she forgot to breathe.
And, no fathers in the delivery room!
My father's favorite line ...
Her Heart Stopped Beating.
‘The bill? $8.00.’
We kept a bill similar to that with the birth of our first daughter, in Maryland.
The hospital stay seemed to be 4 or 5 days.
Similar with 2 succeeding births, in New Mexico.
Days in the hospital gave the mother some time to recover from the (possible/probable) exhaustion.
Being served meals 3 times a day, is divine!
MY father’s line was:
‘LACK OF BREATH’ - !
Since you say something similar, wonder if there was a comedian, or someone in a movie, who uttered that line??!
First child born in 1973. Hospital stay for 1 week was $125. Paid in advance as they allowed a payment plan prior to your due date. I believe my doctor bill was $100, which included the delivery and monthly visits.
I spent less than 24 after delivery with our last and could not get home soon enough. My doctor said I could stay another day, but I insisted.
Unless there is a medical reason, home is better, usually cleaner, and more quiet. Women used to have family support after babies, but hospitals got in the way of that.
We need to get back to relying on families and community after the baby comes. I only ever had myself and our older children, but it was better than the hospital.
My first, begged to go home! The recommended stay was 2 days. Was so excited to get home!
2nd .....begged for an extra day in the hospital ....b/c I knew what I was getting in to. In *those* days, the doc could request extra days and they were granted w/out any questions.
3rd......begged AND begged OBGYN for a week; fortunately, neither I, or kiddo had any issues; IIRC, got 3 days....I would have gladly stayed a week or more!
The first stay, I recall vividly how good the food tasted. The soup was divine.....by child #3.....I mentioned to the food service person, that the soup wasn’t as *good* as B4......did they change the recipes? Or chef? She said, no....it was Campbell’s Soup right out of the can. Times they was achangin’ ;P
All I know is that they threatened to call notify authorities if we left the hospital without registering our daughter for a Social Security number.
First baby, 1981, no Lamaze or other preparation, I got demerol (which did nothing for the pain but made me sleepy) and a spinal block for the birth. Before the spinal block, I was in so much pain I thought I would die. The pain may have been particularly intense because labor was induced.
Second baby, 1983, I had Lamaze training and gave birth with a dose and a half of demerol. No spinal block. The Lamaze helped a lot with labor pains, but I sure would have liked a block for the actual birth.
Other than the birth process, the second time was much less painful than the first. But because of all the narcotic the first time around, I barely remember the process, other than that the pain was intense.
Both times, I couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital. I see some other FReepers enjoyed staying in the hospital—not me. The food is horrible, it’s difficult to fall asleep because of all the light and noise, and every time you *do* fall asleep, a nurse comes and wakes you to make sure you are still alive. The decor is stark and unfriendly, it smells of all kinds of disinfectants and other stuff, and it is very boring. I’m not a big fan of hospitals.
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