Dr. Michel Odent

Dr. Michel Odent was born in France in 1930. He did his medical studies at Paris University, France.

Dr. Odent was in charge of the surgical unit and the maternity unit at the Pithiviers state hospital from 1962 to 1985.

In the 1970s, he introduced the concept of birthing pools in maternity hospitals. He was the one who introduced the concept of home-like birthing room in maternity hospitals

Dr. Odent is the author of the first article in the medical literature about the use of birthing pools - Odent M. Birth Under Water. Lancet 1983; i:1476-77.

He is also the author of the first article in the medical literature about the initiation of lactation during the hour following birth.

Michel is the author of the first article applying the "Gate Control Theory of Pain" to obstetrics.

Moreover, Doctor Odent is the author of 12 books which have been translated into 22 languages.

Dr. Odent founded the Primal Health Research Centre - London, UK. The objective of the center is to test the assumption that human health is shaped during the "primal period", which includes fetal life, the perinatal period, and the year following birth.

He has also created the Primal Health Research Database, the only specialized database compiling studies that explore the long term consequences of what happened during the "Primal period."

In order to convince anyone that the most vital form of human ecology is prenatal ecology, he created the website "wombecology.com"

Doctor Michel Odent Speaks on the Need for Gentle Birth