Dr. Grantly Dick-Read

Grantly Dick-Read was a British obstetrician born in 1890. Dr. Dick-Read is regarded by many as the father of the natural childbirth movement.

A single birth sent him on a different course which not only affected his life but the lives of millions of women and babies around the world.

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, Dr. Dick-Read was used to birth pain being handled with chloroform, a drug that rendered birthing women unconscious.

Not to mention the effects on the baby.

But on this fateful night, Dick-Read witnessed a woman deny chloroform and still birth her - breech - 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.

He dedicated his life to educating expectant parents about the benefits of giving birth naturally and with as little interventions as possible from birth attendants - whomever they may be.

Grantly Dick-Read argued that much of the pain in childbirth came from society's attitude towards childbirth, which often emphasizes the pain. Can you relate?

How many horror stories have you heard?

In his first book titled Natural Childbirth he exposed his findings which - as is more common than not - brought personal and professional ridicule and opposition.

He was expelled from the London clinic he had set up with a group of fellow obstetricians.

We have discovered that this was not an unusual form of discipline for doctors who "stepped out of line" and did not "obey" the status-quo.

But that did not stop him.

It was not until 1933, when he published his second book Revelation of Childbirth - which was later renamed Childbirth Without Fear - that his philosophy captured the public's imagination.

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 this book, Dr. Dick-Read explains:

Dr. Grantly 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 cannot shake the fears associated with childbirth. For this reason, Dr. Dick-Read understood and even believed that drugs were sometimes necessary for a woman to have a satisfying birth experience.

Following the publication of his book, Dr. Dick-Read was invited to lecture all over the world, turning Childbirth Without Fear into an international bestseller.

However, he still thought much of his work was unfulfilled, and felt that the seemingly unstoppable tide of medical innovation which was meant to ease women's experiences of childbirth only achieved the opposite.

Grantly Dick-Read was a veteran of the First World War during which he was seriously injured. His recovery period inspired some of his philosophy.

After divorcing from his first wife, he met Jessica, who rescued his abandoned manuscripts, and convinced him that he owed it to women to persevere.

In 1956, he became the first president of the United Kingdom's Natural Childbirth Trust - which later became the National Childbirth Trust - the foundation he inspired.

The National Childbirth Trust has chapters throughout the United Kingdom. The Trust has grown to be the most important organization for childbirth choices in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Grantly Dick-Read died in 1959, but his philosophy lives on. Individuals and organizations around the world have been profoundly influenced by Dick-Read's work.

Even if a woman does not choose a childbirth method that publicizes the explicit use of Dick-Read's theories, she will find that most natural childbirth classes, including the Bradley method, have their roots in his teachings.