Michel Odent on the Foetal Ejection Reflex - Entire Interview

Sally's complete interview with retired French obstetrician Michel Odent and 'protector' of the labouring woman's natural process (or "foetus ejection reflex"). Recorded 30 March 2015.

0-6 mins - Introduction
6 min - Interview commences
15 min - Natural childbirth advocates and medical view have been working to short term criteria of emphasis on live mother and baby at the end of the process, but he calls for us to expand our view to take into account longer term impacts of interventions.

18:30 min - Hormones of childbirth

20 min - Lack of general understanding of birth physiology and the needs of the labouring woman. Need to ask "what are the needs of the labouring woman, and not simply promote natural childbirth. We need to think "like physiologists" and identify possible inhibitory factors. Key word - to "protect" the natural process.

24:30 - Our powerful neo-cortex and how it inhibits our birth process if engaged and active.

27:30 - Human sense of smell is stronger than we realise and is inhibited by the neo-cortex.

29:30 Need reduced neo-cortical activity to give birth.

31 min - How to reduce neo-cortical activity (eg be in dark)

35 min - Our cultural conditioning of "helping" the labouring woman - where there is an active role necessarily played by someone else, not the woman, which is disempowering for her. Socialisation of birth started in Neolithic times.

37 min - Paleolithic women probably isolated themselves, so our cultural conditioning is around 10,000 years old.

45 min - Turning 85 yrs this year and feels he is running out of time so must speak directly about these issues and not worry about being politically correct.

48 min - Our fear of birth started during Neolithic times when women saw other women giving birth and built up culture around experts and helpers needing to attend birthing women, whereas Paleolithic women probably did it alone, ie their behaviour not observed so story couldn't build up around what they did when birthing.

49 min - most women experience disturbed birth. Authentic midwifery needs to set up optimal conditions for foetal ejection reflex to occur. Difficulty for women is that when they birth instinctively their behaviour can be culturally unacceptable for those present.

57 min - 1970 footage of Papua New Guinean woman giving birth alone. Her mother helps her set up birth space then moves away for the actual moment of birth.

1:01 min - "Support" is the most toxic word as it gives women the idea that they can only do it with the help of others. Urgent need to reconsider words we use and look at using words like "protection" instead.

1:06 - Natural childbirth advocates and medical practioners alike interfere with natural childbirth process by using words like "Support".

1:07 - Newborns need love, microbes and stress - what is meant by stress. Impacts on pre-labour caesarean babies.

1:13 - We need to study babies born without labour and those born with labour (and born either vaginally or by C/s)

1:14 - Swedish study into sense of smell on newborns - comparison between babies born vaginally or by C/S. The sense of smell is 'switched on' by noradrenalin, a hormone produced by the baby in labour and it is needed to help a baby find the nipple.


Produced and presented by Sally Cusack.
Copyright PBB Media and Sally Cusack 2015