So does Lamaze still teach “the breathing”? I feel pretty comfortable saying that across the board, Lamaze educators do teach families about what we now call conscious breathing. That’s the breath I referred to at the beginning of this post… the breath that helps people center and relax, the breath that encourages the hormones of labor to work well for an easier, faster labor. It’s easy, it’s natural, it’s relaxed. Many of us are also teaching breath awareness as stress relief and a mindfulness tool during pregnancy (that’s especially important for women of color, who face address stress and risk during their pregnancies because of racism). Yes, we teach about breathing, but definitely not the “hee-hee, hoo-hoo” of long ago.

Lamaze International broke away from scripted Lamaze breathing patterns in the 1980s, as Judith Lothian described in her 2011 article, “Lamaze Breathing: What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know.” As our understanding of birth broadened, the comfort measures toolbox got bigger. As all great organizations do, Lamaze evolved. Strict breathing patterns just aren’t part of our classrooms anymore, and they haven’t been for a long time. So why does that image hold on? I really think the scripted breathing made for such darned good drama and comedy that it wiggled its way into our collective consciousness. It’s been fun, but it’s way past time for society to let. it. go.