The Leboyer Gentle Birth method is a wonderfully green approach to childbirth—natural or medicated. You might appreciate some or all of its ideas. It was first introduced in 1974 by the French obstetrician Frederick Leboyer, in his book Birth Without Violence, which called for a more sensitive and gentle approach to birth.

Even though many parents have never heard of it, this method has brought about some changes in nearly all deliveries. For instance, it called for an end to dangling babies upside down and smacking their bottoms to start them crying, the end of putting harsh silver nitrate in the eyes shortly after birth, and the end of separating healthy newborn babies from their mothers. Beyond this, whether for a natural or medicated birth, this method encourages limited or even no use of delivery tools (such as forceps or vacuum pumps) so that the stress of birth on the child is reduced. It advocates low lights and soothing music in the delivery room, where the newborn is immediately placed on her mother’s abdomen, postponing umbilical cord cutting and suctioning. In some hospitals the baby can then be placed in a warm bath to enjoy a return to the weightlessness of the womb.

The Leboyer method has been found equally safe compared to conventional deliveries, with the added advantages of a more natural delivery setting, of using the mother’s body as the baby’s first external environment and heat source, and of increased participation by the father in the birth.¹

The second revised edition (2002) of Birth Without Violence is available from Healing Arts Press.