Linda Harmon, our Lamaze International Executive Director for the past three decades, was kind enough to put together this remarkable timeline looking at some key points in the organization’s history. - Sharon Muza,  Community Manager, Connecting the Dots

The 1950s

• Dr. Fernand Lamaze introduced a method of childbirth in France by incorporating techniques he observed in Russia, psychoprophlaxis. This method, consisting of childbirth education classes, relaxation, breathing techniques and continuous emotional support from the father and a specially trained nurse, became known as “the Lamaze method.”
• Word of mouth spread in the United States during the late 1950s, after Marjorie Karmel gave birth assisted by Dr. Lamaze and “monitrice” and she wrote of her childbirth experience in Thank You, Dr. Lamaze. The book inspired many women to approach childbirth as a shared event for both mother and father.
• The “natural childbirth” movement was born.

The 1960s

• In 1960, Elisabeth Bing and Marjorie Karmel co-founded American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics (ASPO) and began their work in New York. ASPO was organized with a “tripartite” structure: three divisions consisting of physicians (who at first had the only voting privilege), professionals and parents.
• “The Little Red Book,” officially titled “A Practical Training Course for the Psychoprophylactic Method of Childbirth,” first published in 1961 by Marjorie Karmel and Elisabeth Bing, was intended for doctors, nurses and physical therapists, but could also be used by women to help achieve a more comfortable birth.
• By 1963 ASPO was an active organization with a growing membership, a newsletter and in 1967 held its first National ASPO Conference.
• Elisabeth Bing authored her first book “Six Practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth” in 1967, a practical resource for parents versus professionals.
• The women’s movement had a major impact; women began to realize they wanted their childbirth experiences to be emotionally meaningful, as well as medically safe. By 1967, 11 hospitals in New York permitted fathers in the labor room and eight into the delivery room.
• Both parents and educators were often criticized as being the “lunatic fringe” and the movement was viewed as a passing “fad.” However, the early childbirth instructors were an educated, professional group of women who made a major impact on the maternity-care system, and the fad did not go away!
• In the mid-1960s ASPO established the national education and certification program for childbirth educators and began offering seminars throughout the country that were a part of the certification process.
• Because the strong beliefs of the “natural childbirth” movement seemed to alienate the medical establishment, the concept of “natural childbirth” was gradually modified to a less “radical” concept of “prepared childbirth” to socialize into the medical model.

The 1970s

• By 1970, ASPO had codified its training process and had certified hundreds of teachers.
• National seminars as part of the certification program continued to grow and the ASPO faculty presenting seminars grew as well.
• ASPO chapters sprung up around the country in the ‘70s; at one time there were as many as 22 chapters.
• As the balance of educators grew, ASPO experienced some organizational turmoil with its trip
• In 1973 this remarkable film was released with amazing clips of people birthing using the "Lamaze" method.

The 1980s

• In the early 1980s, ASPO change its name to ASPO/Lamaze to give better clarification of the mission of the organization; not to mention it being much easier to pronounce than psychoprophylaxis and often confused with a method of birth control.
• Childbirth education had become mainstream and parents were beginning to value and accept without question the technology and interventions offer to them by the medical establishment; they became less assertive and more passive regarding their birth experience.
• In 1982, ASPO/Lamaze began the Childbirth Institute (CBI), which provided a full day program of enriched learning for childbirth educators presented by faculty members prior to the organization’s annual conference. The preconference offering continued through 1993.
• In the late ‘80s, the organization faced financial and organizational challenges.  In 1989, the board engaged SmithBucklin to conduct an organization audit. The audit uncovered that ASPO/Lamaze was on the brink of bankruptcy, owing over $1 million due in 30 days! The Arlington based office was closed and SmithBucklin was hired to manage ASPO/Lamaze.
• Beyond the move to association management, the organization implemented other controversial strategies to provide fiscal security. Corporate partnerships were developed and Lamaze Parents magazine was sold, bringing $1 million in revenue to the organization. It took about a year for ASPO/Lamaze to stabilize, and three years before it was on solid foundation again.

The 1990s

• In 1990, the board of directors approved the decentralizing of the education seminars leading to certification. Prior to this time, the certification program had operated as a system of “national” seminars managed through the ASPO/Lamaze national office and taught by faculty at large. With this shift, the seminars moved to university based settings to provide infrastructure and further professionalization.
• The first certification exam was administered in October 1990 with five candidates taking and passing the exam authorized to use the ASPO/Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, ACCE credential.
• The inaugural class of Lamaze educators were inducted as Fellows of the Academy of Certified Childbirth Educators with the honorary FACCE designation.
• In 1991, The Journal of Perinatal Education (JPE) was launched with Dr. Francine Nichols serving as the founding editor. The JPE was the first, and remains the only, peer-reviewed journal to bring high quality research and practice articles to childbirth educators.
• In 1991, the board worked with SmithBucklin on a search for a new executive director, and Linda Harmon was hired to serve as in that role.
• In 1992 the organization entered a licensing partnership with AMI for maternity apparel and other commercial products; the agreement was terminated in 1997.
• In 1993, the organization entered a licensing agreement with Learning Curve, a children’s toy company (now owned by TOMY) to offer a line of Lamaze infant development toys.  Over the years the royalties from toy sales have been a significant revenue steam for the organization. The current term of this licensing partnership runs through 2023. 
• In 1994, the Lamaze Childbirth Educator Certification Exam eligibility criteria were expanded to include candidates who had experience teaching childbirth education and/or received training from another childbirth education training program.
• In 1994, the board of directors adopted an advertising standards policy which specifies that no advertising may do anything to negatively affect the reputation of Lamaze International, and consistent with its philosophy on breastfeeding, Lamaze International abides by the World Health Organization Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes and its resolutions.
• The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS),  a national alliance of  more than fifty organizations and many prominent individuals, came together in 1996 to create the “Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI): Ten Steps to Mother-Friendly Hospitals, Birth Centers and Home Birth Services”. The historic roots of CIMS began with a meeting in October 1994 with the help of Lamaze International.
• In 1997, another organization name change occurred, and ASPO/Lamaze became Lamaze International. The certification credential also changed from ACCE to LCCE certified.
• In 1999, the board of directors approved the sale of Lamaze Parents Magazine by the publishing company to iVillage (an early dot-com company, now defunct), which continued to publish the print magazine and hoped to build a presence for Lamaze within their online community. Lamaze received a substantial cash windfall as part of the transaction (and benefited from the early boom of the dot-com era, and an ongoing royalty revenue stream until 2007 when Lamaze regained control of the magazine and self-published it for two additional years.

The 2000s

• Elisabeth Bing’s memoir, “My Life in Birth,” was published in 2000, providing an historical overview of her life and the development of the profession of childbirth education.
• Lamaze International celebrated its 40th anniversary at the annual conference in Memphis, TN.  Madam Blanche Cohen was a keynote speaker; the “monitrice” who worked along with Dr. Lamaze and author of “Thank You, Dr. Lamaze.”
• In the new millennium, often called the “iGeneration” because these parents were born into an era of technology and raised with fast food, cable TV, computers, cell phones and all manner of drive through services, expecting parents expected their birth experience to be fast, painless and easy.
• As result, Lamaze International and the educators teaching classes had to make many adjustments and become creative in order to attract these parents to a childbirth class to prepare for birth.
• In 2000, Lamaze program accreditation was extended to organizations/small businesses outside of the university setting.
• In 2002, the first-ever national survey of women’s childbearing experiences, “Listening to Mothers” – a project led by the Maternity Center Association (MCA) in partnership with Johnson and Johnson - was published. Lamaze International board members, Eugene Declercq and Judy Lothian served on the Advisory Council, along with representatives from every organization that holds a stake in childbirth, worked with the MCA team to develop the survey and consider recommendations.
• In 2003, Lamaze International developed a position paper on promoting, supporting, and protecting normal birth along with six care practices papers that were published in 2004 in The Journal of Perinatal Education (JPE) Volume 13, Number 2 issue. These care practice papers synthesize best practices that promote, support, and protect normal birth, bonding, and breastfeeding.
• In 2005, the first edition of “Giving Birth with Confidence: The Official Lamaze Guide” was published, authored by Judy Lothian and Charlotte DeVries, which was has been updated in editions published in 2010 and 2017.
• In 2007, Lamaze funded an ethnographic research study, “Understanding Childbirth Education,” which was intended to provide insights and recommendations on childbirth education to provide key insights into childbirth education that can be used to improve childbirth education and help inform and identify future research on childbirth education. The study was conducted by Clarissa Hsu, PhD and Christine Morton, PhD from Group Health Community Foundation.
• In 2008, Lamaze entered two new licensing partnerships. The partnership with Panties Plus on a line of Lamaze maternity intimates continues to operate in 2020.  The second new licensing agreement with GC brands for a line of Lamaze infant apparel was operational for five years through 2013.

The 2010s

• Lamaze launched two blogs - Giving Birth With Confidence for the parent audience and Science & Sensibility for the professional audience – in 2010.
• In 2010 a Mega Conference was held with the International Childbirth Education Association, who was also founded in 1960 and both organizations came together to celebrate their 50^th anniversary.
• In 2014, Lamaze International held a joint conference with DONA International.
• In 2015, another joint conference was held with ICEA.
• In 2015, entered a licensing partnership with Kitex for Lamaze infant apparel, with a first term that runs through 2020 and may be extended to 2023.
• Elisabeth Bing passed away a few weeks shy of 101 years old/
• In 2016, the Lamaze board of directors went to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional offices to advocate on behalf of childbirth education.
• In 2017, in lieu of a traditional annual conference, Lamaze held a member wide 2017 Advocacy Summit.  DONA International held a trainer and board meeting in conjunction with the event and joined Lamaze members for the summit and Hill Day visits with congressional offices.
• In 2019 Australia became the first international affiliate, and the Washington, DC Chapter has formally renewed its chapter affiliation with Lamaze International.

The 2020s

• Linda Harmon, Executive Director announces her retirement and the search for a successor is initiated.

References

1. 1.“My Life in Birth: The Memoirs of Elisabeth Bing,” Lamaze International, 2000.
2. 2.“Down Memory Lane: Recollections of Lamaze International’s First 50 Years,” Elaine Zwelling, RN, PhD, LCCE, FACCE, The Journal of Perinatal Education, Summer 2010, Volume 19, Number 3.
3. Lamaze International. Donner La Vie by Dr. Pierre Vellay. ca. 1973. MP-47.7. 16mm. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.