Nikki Lee Health

Thank you, Dr. Lamaze

Marjorie Karmel

Pinter and Martin, 1959

English; paperback; 162 pages

Orders: search for the title; can be found at recycled book sites. I bought it from Amazon for $ (US) 1.50 + s & h

The history of birthing practices and breastfeeding in the US has been influenced by the pioneering women who triggered changes in maternity awareness and practice in the late 1950s and early 1960s; the book Thank you, Dr. Lamaze, is one example of such a pioneer, Marjorie Karmel.

A few months ago, I realized that I had never read this book. No longer carried in bookstores, it is found only through the Internet and sold for a modest sum. I encourage everyone to do that, and to read this gem.

Half the book is about how Dr. Lamaze came to develop his approach to childbirth, and of how Mrs. Karmel found Dr. Lamaze, and of how she worked with a wise woman who taught a method of childbirth preparation that came to be called psychoprophylaxis. Mrs. Karmel is an articulate and intelligent writer. For me, the most interesting half is about Mrs. Karmel’s second pregnancy and delivery, in the USA.

As her first birth in Paris was empowering, and as she loved being awake and aware and having a collegial, positive and respectful relationship with her obstetrician, she sought a similar situation with her second pregnancy, in New York City. As this was a time when women were knocked out and their babies “delivered”, and when obstetricians preferred women to be docile and obedient, Mrs. Karmel had to search for a long time, (getting desperate enough to consider flying back to Paris to give birth) before finally finding someone who would work with her and respect her knowledge and wishes.

After attending childbirth class in the US, Mrs Karmel realized that her confidence in herself was being shaken by the attitudes and expectations of the healthcare system, even though she had such a powerful and successful experience with her first baby. She renewed her confidence by reaching out to a different community, those few women seeking an unmedicated, natural birth, and her childbirth educator in Paris.

There is a happy ending, and the birth of her second child, a breech presentation, is a triumph of teamwork between Mrs. Karmel, her obstetrician and her husband. (The chief nurse in the delivery room left the scene, offended as soon as she realized that the second man present was Mr. Karmel, not another doctor.)

Having a cigarette and a martini are no longer acceptable practices for pregnant women, although they were in the 1950s. However, as one working in the field of maternity care for 40 years, I found incredible similarities between the attitudes healthcare professionals had during that time, and their general attitudes today. This old book is wonderfully current, inspirational, and interesting.