Lamaze Childbirth Preparation Method: Elisabeth Bing
By OBOS — April 10, 2009
From 2009 – 2011, Our Bodies Ourselves honored the work of women’s health advocates worldwide by asking readers to nominate their favorite women’s health hero. View all nominees by year: 2009, 2010, 2011
Entrant: Harriet R. Barry
Nominee: Elisabeth Bing, Lamaze International Co-Founder
Elisabeth Bing, co-founder of the Lamaze Childbirth Preparation Method in the USA almost 50 years ago, made a major contribution in achieving Family Centered Maternity and changed birth in America for the better for all time.
Birth in the 19th and 20th centuries went from the home to the hospital and was characterized by routine intervention with women being heavily drugged, restrained and isolated. By 1960, with co-founder Marjorie Karmel, Elisabeth Bing developed a grassroots movement with the support of only a few obstetricians, and showed that medical management was not necessarily safer.
Training couples with the Lamaze Method, which encompassed support for laboring women. She would say, “Physicians must learn to keep their hands in their pockets unless there are specific medical indications.”
Her contribution to public health, pregnant women, safety of the newborn, their partners and the family is monumental.
Elisabeth will be 92. She has always been an inspiration for me, even though I never had a child, I assisted my dear friend. With all the intervention of childbirth in our modern society we interfere with the natural cycle of birth. So, let’s keep our youth informed and keep them close to nature for healthy babies….our future.
Elisabeth Bing is a long-standing women’s health hero who has had a tremendous impact over the past 50 years on safe and healthy birth practices in the US and around the world. Lamaze International continues today in her visionary footsteps as it promotes a natural, healthy and safe approach to pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting practices.
Knowing that pregnancy and childbirth can be demanding on a woman’s body and mind, Lamaze serves as a resource for information about what to expect and what choices are available during the childbearing years. This helps to simplify and clarify the childbirth process, alleviate a woman’s fears and, most importantly, helps a woman feel more informed and prepared so they can achieve a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth.
Lamaze education and practices are based on the best, most current medical evidence available, and can help reduce the overuse of unnecessary interventions while improving overall outcomes for mothers and babies. Working closely with their families, health care providers and Lamaze educators, millions of pregnant women have achieved their desired childbirth outcomes using Lamaze practices. Visit http://www.lamaze.org for more information.
Linda Harmon
Executive Director, Lamaze International
Elisabeth Bing! Without her normal birth would be as extinct as the wooly mammoth. While I say hats off to all the other wonderful women nominated so far, Elisabeth Bing is the one! I’m a Lamaze Educator, doula and Lactation Consultant. I had three Lamaze babies in the middle-late 60’s and Elizabeth Bing was there to support me. After a long career in the apparel industry, I finally have the opportunity to teach, promote and support normal birth, give other women a substantive shot at normal birth through education, but most importantly, give them the information about their rights as birthing women. The scary thing is that when I ask the formulaic question we (Lamaze educators) all ask women at the first class meeting, “Why or what made you decide to take this class” I no longer get the formulaic answers of yore, for example:”My mother said I should do it” or “I want to know about what’s going to happen to me and my baby”. Now women say something that would have been risible a year ago…they say “I WANT TO HAVE A VAGINAL BIRTH” , as if taking the classes will somehow help them escape from the c-section they perceive as inevitable. I teach Lamaze to a really underserved suburban population..the Medicaid clients of Planned Parenthood (yes, PP helps pregnant women with prenatal and post partum care, too!!). All around them are women like themselves recovering from surgery, unable to nurse their babies with comfort and ease, hurting for a year or more, and with their future reproductive lives at risk. So Elisabeth Bing it must be!! The Lamaze she founded has changed and grown over the years to meet the changing face of maternity care, and with the enunciation of the Six Care Practices, has helped and protected, educated and supported birthing women and their families around the world.
Elisabeth Bing is the matriarch of childbirth education in the U.S. When she, Marjorie Karmel, and Dr. Benjamin Segal founded the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics (ASPO; now Lamaze International) in 1960, they were in the vanguard of transforming American birth into a more humane, family-centered life cycle event. There is much work to be done, but her contributions to empowering women in labor, to moving away from routine, unnecessary interventions, and to bringing a support person/partner into the labor room have arguably been the most enduring aspects of the changes brought by the feminist health movement on American birth. I highly recommend her book My Life in Birth (2000), a marvelous read.
Elisabeth Bing was so instrumental in getting “natural childbirth” accepted in this country. As a nurse, I cared for women in the pre-natural birth time, and it was truly demeaning to women. In promoting birth as it should be, the dignity of women was revived.
As birthing educators, we must continue her message, because too many of today’s women have given the power of their body back to obstetricians. Women MUST continue to have the say in what happens to their body.
5 stars! Her message changed the lives of so many women whose rights were taken away from them for such a fundamental part of life: That women can give birth.
I still remember going to Elisabeth Bing’s apartment in Manhattan (and hearing someone bounce a ball in the next room or perhaps next apartment) in 1965 when I was pregnant with our first child. She was a wonderful instructor, and role model. When we moved to Illinois and there were no Lamaze teachers, she inspired me to becaome A.C.C.E. She is truly a remarkable woman!
Elizabeth is an inspiration. At this point in her life, she has seen birthing come full circle. From Mom’s being asleep at birthing in the ’50’s to Mom’s being sectioned for no good reason in the new millenium. 50 years where her love of birthing and strong will has made such an impact for all women. Her practces has empowered me to empower women. For this I vote for her with all my heart.
Women and our children are indepted to this lovely lady
I had the honor and priviledge to hear Elizabeth Bing at a Lamaze conference many years ago and felt so inspired and motivated. I will never foget her presentation.
Elizabeth Bing was such a vital inspiration to me in my personal and professional life. I have a well savored 1967 copy of Six Practical Lessons that I used in 1978, to prepare for the birth of my first child, sixties photos and all. Her perseverance and persistence have been a continued lesson for me on what it takes to live your passion, advocate for women and babies and carry forth the mission into the real world. I was humbled and grateful when finally meeting her in NYC that she acknowledged my work with waterbirth and what is still necessary to turn the tide on the growing medicalization of childbirth today. She is a national treasure. Hands down, she has my vote.
After the delivery of my first child 40 years ago, I stated to myself, ” there must be a better way to deliver a baby.” I looked for an answer and found Lamaze. I had such wonderful bonding experiences with my subsequent 3 deliveries I became a positive force in other lives and taught Lamaze for 20 years. I had the honor of meeting Elizabeth Bing and to be taught by her and became a certified lamaze instructor. I had the privilege of introducing Lamaze to many physicians and hospitals. It was an empowering journey for me as well as for the women I taught and worked with.
Thank You Elizabeth Bing
God Bless Elizabeth! When Elizabeth decided to embark on her journey to teach new families as they started their journeys into parenting God blessed us all. Her mission and creativity still show that women should have a voice in their birthing process. In this day and age as a Lamaze certified educator in the number one Cesarean delivery market…I let all my mothers know about this remarkable woman who envisioned a woman who could voice her desires on how to have her child.
Elizabeth is an inspiration to all of us who teach.
Elisabeth Bing: where would women be without her? She empowered women through birth to start asking and demanding information about all aspects of medical care for women. She woke us up and moved us forward. She is a living breathing hero, a standard bearer, a kind and gentle icon, a model of common sense. She has my undying gratitude and my vote for Woman of the Century.
Elisabeth Bing definitely has my vote for Woman of the Century! I teach Lamaze Childbirth Education classes in India, and can see what a difference it makes to women and their families. Their attitudes, confidence and ability to stand up and ask a few (if sometimes uncomfortable) questions of the medical community in making their voices heard, and demanding a better childbirth experience, is heartening as they progress through the sessions. What a wonderful contribution Elisabeth Bing has made to all women by founding the Lamaze methodology!
Elisabeth Bing was our Lamaze Instructor in 1980 as I prepared to give birth to my first daughter in a NYC teaching hospital as a 25-year-old first time mother. Elisabeth’s excellent instruction and strong message that I had the right (and even obligation) to take charge of my own birthing experience, gave me the confidence to say “No!” to the wide range of medical interventions that were virtually thrust on me. Nearly 30 years later, Elisabeth still serves as a role model and inspiration to me in my own practice as a Lamaze instructor! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Note: This is another nomination for Elisabeth Bing.
Elisabeth Bing through her vast knowledge, common sense, and love of people helped transform birth in this nation and in so doing empowered women to seek information on every aspect of health care. She awakened women and because of that she has helped the health of women and their children.
Once a person learns to ask why and what about one aspect of care, those questions are asked for every aspect of health care. Once women learned to stand up to the medical community in one area, they now stand up to others who would try to condescend to them or to brush them off. Mrs. Bing opened what seemed like one small door, but it was a door which led to freedom — the freedom to know, the freedom to question, the freedom to choose.
Elisabeth Bing should be named as this year’s Health Care Hero.
I have been a certified Lamaze instructor for almost 40 years and had the pleasure of meeting and working with Elizabeth Bing when I was chairman of the Northern New Jersey professional chapter. She continues to be an inspiration to me as I am now involved in teaching student nurses rather than expectant parents.
Elisabeth Bing should be voted Health Care Hero of the year for her important ongoing contributions to women’s and family health by encouraging women to take charge of their birth experience through education, advocacy and reform.
The psychological and physiological preparation she provided through her teaching of what became known as The Lamaze Method inspired us as medical professionals to take a second look at what was happening to women in the “twighlight sleep” era of drugged mothers and newborns.
It is as relevant today through the organization she founded, Lamaze International. The organization and its members advocate for evidence-based birth in an era when instead of being drugged into oblivion, one third of women are having their bodies subjected to unnecessary abdominal surgery with far reaching consequences for the childbearing family.
Elisabeth Bing is still with us in her nineties and the countless childbirth educators, doulas and lactation consultants carry on the work in an uphill battle against the “business of birth”.
Let us elect Elisabeth Bing as Women’s Health Hero of the Year for her continuous support of women and families in choosing the birth they want through preparation, knowledge and freedom of choice. The organization she started back in 1960 and the countless childbirth educators she prepared continue to carry on her important work. I have known and worked with Elisabeth since the 1970’s and consider Elisabeth Bing, 50 years of continous service as a beacon of light!
Sigrid Nelsson-Ryan, RN, IBCLC, CD, LCCE, FACCE
Childbirth Educator, Labor Support Specialist, Lactation Consultant
In 1978, I was living in Los Angeles, when I got pregnant with my first son; my husband and I were at UCLA, he was doing his Neurology training. When I first found out I was pregnant I went to the closest bookstore and looked for something to read about birth, since I did not really felt in my bones, that childbirth was such an awfull experience, like I had heard so many times from my friends back in Guadalajara, Mexico. I bought Six practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth. I read it so many times !!! I took the Lamaze session, with Ida Stanley Bird and had an incredible birth experience !!!!! It changed my life forever !!!!!. I was an Interior Designer, after the birth I decided to prepare as a Lamaze Childbirth Educator; I now live back in Guadalajara and I have been teaching for twenty five years.
Elizabeth Bing, for sure deserves this nomination and that she wins it; she has done so much for Childbirth Education. When I met her for the first time, she amazed me, so down to earth, such a pleasure to listen to, so very charming. I cherish the pictures I have with her, always smiling, warm, loving.
My vote goes to her and many many thanks for being such an inspiration to me.
Cariño y saludos desde Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Carolina Quintana de Oropeza
Would LOVE to see Elizabeth Bing get this award!
Although I have never had the privilege of meeting Elizabeth Bing in person and I am sure there are many of us, what we do have the privilege of doing, is carrying on the wonderful legacy she has left and continues to leave us as Childbirth Educators and in turn, to childbearing families.
Thank you for your vision, dedication and the inspiration you are to all of us.
Elisabeth was a professional mentor, who shaped my career in many ways. I know many others can say the same. Because of her influence, I was motivated to become the first Lamaze certified childbirth educator in Ohio in 1967 & then to help others achieve the same goal, both in Ohio and Florida. Elisabeth was the professional “mother” to many of us….to begin a movement of professional childbirth educators who would help women achieve the childbirth experiences they wanted, without standard, routine medical intervention. Elisabeth has also been a beloved personal friend to many, and I cherish knowing her and having the opportunity to spend wonderful times with her over the years. I am truly blessed to have had her influence & friendship in my life!
I vote for Elisabeth for many reasons, but most of all for the influence she had on me as a person and as a professional. I had the priviledge of meeting her quite a few times at Lamaze conferences. I still have a very special letter that she wrote to me when I was making a very difficult decision to leave a hospital based program that I developed and directed using Lamaze philosophy for 10 years before I was told by the hospital that my staff could no longer “tell both sides” when talking about certain topics and could no longer use the word Lamaze. Elisabeth advised me to decide from my heart and so I did. My private practice in a large city where all the hospitals give free “childbirth education classes” has barely survived, but when I do get to be a part of a woman’s birth preparation, I know it is right. Not only do I think that Elisabeth’s influence in birth has changed the way birth is looked on in our society, but also has had a lot to do with the evolution of women in general by giving them confidence and helping them to realize there innate power. I know that there are a lot of things that I might not have done in life if I had not had her as a wonderful mentor. Whenever I am asked to name a special mentor in my life, I tell them Elisabeth Bing. Most ask who she is, then understand when I explain. She is a very special woman and has influenced a great many women throughout the years, who have in turn influenced a great many others and will for generations to come.
Note: This is an additional nomination.
Elizabeth Bing has been a pioneer in childbirth empowerment.
She has guided Lamaze International towards the patient focused philosophy.
She has taught classes and her peers to embrace the childbirth role and its challenges.
Note: This is an additional nomination.
Elizabeth has been very inspirational to the birthing mothers and their partners both in the USA and abroad. I met her at a Lamaze International Conference when she was then 90 years old. I adored hearing her tell how she was assisting a laboring woman who was using a Life Saver candy. The birthing mom kept spitting it into Elizabeth’s hand during a contraction. Elizabeth came up with the idea of a sucker because her hand got so sticky. This one tip alone was such an inovation to add to a “goody bag.” Please consider our founder as your SHERO.
Pam Chance Lamaze for Believers Raleigh, NC
Thank goodness for Elisabeth Bing! We have all heard of “natural childbirth” yet few have heard her name. It deserves to be remembered. I cringe to think of the even worse condition that birth would be in if it were not for her work. She rang the bell and woke us up to our bodies’ abilities. She was at the forefront of reminding us that birth can be a normal, healthy experience.
When I first started teaching childbirth classes in the early 80’s I read everything I could to help me become a better instructor. After purchasing one of Elisabeth’s books I bought everything she every wrote over the next 10 years. She has been an inspiration to me my whole life. Today, at the age of 60 I am still teaching. I now have children of parents who attended my classes now in their 20’s seeking me out and attending my classes. I remember meeting Elisabeth at one of the conferences in the 90’s and her telling me that was happening to her. At that time she was in her 70’s. I thought how exciting and wondered if that would ever happen to me. I promised myself that I would work at keeping myself as young in spirit and as excited about teaching as she was. It has paid off in so many ways for me personally and professionally. THANK YOU, Elisabeth!
Because of Elizabeth Bing my personal and professional life has changed in ways I could not have anticipated. I am a Lamaze childbirth educator today and active in my community as an advocate for normal birth because of her influence on me as a young mother and as a nurse working with families who wanted to experience the childbearing year with the resources to be full participants in their babies’ births. Her quiet demeanor and composure belie her lifelong determination to work with women, care providers and childbirth educators to maintain the integrity of the birthing mother and her support system through education. I am so fortunate to have worked with her as a mentor and as a colleague through the Lamaze organization. Thank you, Elizabeth Bing!
I am proud to have worked alongside Elisabeth Bing, Marjie Karmel and the few obstetricians willing to risk their reputations by becoming founding members of ASPO – known back in 1960 as the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics, and now known as Lamaze International. It’s been quite a trip from then to now – incredible for me to realize how far we’ve come – from the fledgling New York organization, to the far-reaching internationally respected one. We have come so far in the world of birthing babies, yet there is so much more to be done.
Elisabeth was certainly our guiding light, staying strong against all the barriers set up by the obstetrical community. Quietly, steadfastedly, she worked for change within the system—avoiding confrontational situations – winning over nurses and obstetricians, one at a time, one new mom at a time, one year at a time — until Lamaze became, and still is, a household name. I remember calling many physicians, inviting them to film showings at Marjie’s New York apartment to see Lamaze childbirth in action. Too many of them refused to open their minds, saying “I don’t want my patients to suffer.” Too many of them were frightened of losing total control over their patients’ minds and bodies – because we Lamazians were opening the minds of expectant moms to experience birth on their own terms – and hoping their doctors would be supportive of their efforts.
We must recognize and applaud Elisabeth for opening doors (and minds!) for women choosing to be “awake and aware” and having fathers with them in labor and delivery rooms – among other family-centered maternity care practices. We must continue her fight – to keep the power of birthing within the realm of birthing mothers.
Elisabeth – I salute you!
Elly Rakowitz, LCCE
One of the most memorable evenings of my career was the one I spent with Elizabeth at a dinner at the Lamaze conference in Memphis (I think it was Memphis as I have been to quite a few!). I felt so priviledged to be able to talk to her about her life and listen to her stories. I have been a Lamaze Instructor for 27 years and have looked to Elizabeth Bing as a true role model and an inspiration when I have felt tired or discouraged or burned-out. Lately I have been struggling with my commitment as it seems that many women have not felt compelled to celebrate their pregnancy and prepare for their baby’s birth by attending class but rather rely on TV or the internet for incomplete or inaccurate informaton. As I am also a Labor and Delivery nurse and a Lactation Consultant, I see the look on a woman’s face when she pulls back with fear and pain and I am both sad and angry that she did not have the opportunity to understand what a phenomenal thing her body and spirit is able to do. I continue to try to touch these women and those who do attend classes and will keep Elizabeth’s spirit and good humor with me as inspiration.
I too thank you Elizabeth!!
Julia Decker RN FACCE, IBCLC
ELizabeth Bing to the Birth World is like Meryl Streep is to the Acting World…one in a million. A woman of class and distinction and ranks the best of the best in our time. My love to you Elizabeth. Judith Halek, Director of Birth Balance.
I have a very vivid personal memory of Elizabeth Bing’s work: when I went into labour 29 years ago with my daughter – three weeks too early! – I was wheeled into the delivery room madly trying to memorize Elizabeth’s book ‘Six Practical Lessons For An Easier Childbirth’!!! Like cramming for a final exam! What a great book – and a great gift to all mothers.
Note: This is an additional nomination.
The work of Elizabeth Bing is foundational in changing my life from being fearful to becoming a strong confident woman through the education I received in childbirth education classes. Being informed and prepared to work with my body, my loved ones and health care providers empowered me and has been an iatrical part in the development of the mature woman I am today. Thank you Elizabeth.
I could not vote using the star system, so I’m submitting my comments.
Thank you for the opportunity to encourage you to acknowledge Elisabeth Bing, the co-founder of the Lamaze Childbirth Education method in the US. In 1972 as a young nurse and pregnant with my first child, I was encouraged by my doctor to read “Six Practical Lessons for An Easier Childbirth” which I credit with changing the direction of my life.
Before this, I never wanted to work with laboring women as the only births I’d seen in nursing school had been those of women so drugged and out of control that it frightened me. Imagine my surprise when I finally sat down to read this simple book to learn things I’d never learned before. Thus began my tentative commitment to “at least try it”. Imagine the surprise of both me and my husband (a young physician in residency) when we found that the techniques actually helped us to have a very positive “together” birth!
I was like a new convert and wanted every woman to know that it was possible to birth without all of the drugs and the screaming. Since we lived in Chicago at the time, I was able to go through the certification process over the next two years as well as student teach with an experienced teacher that whole time. Since 1974, I’ve continued to teach independently teaching countless young women and their partners.
The most wonderful part about all of this is the opportunity to teach people how to advocate for themselves or a loved one in the complex world of medicine we find ourselves in today. In fact, I’ve observed that childbirth education has always been and is still the profession on the vanguard of patient advocacy and education. We teach lifetime skills!
And it’s all due to Elisabeth Bing and her late colleague, Marjorie Karmel!
Elisabeth Bing is such a lovely, intelligent, caring woman. She has given of herself her entire life and has changed the lives of many. Both in her teachings, her books, and her inspiration to others. After taking a Lamaze class in 1976 I became interested in becoming a Lamaze instructor. I have now been teaching for almost 30 years. Elisabeth has empowered women, couples, and taught us all the passion of childbirth education.
I received my Lamaze certification 21 years ago. Over the years, I have come to appreciate more and more the work started by Elisabeth Bing to involve women and their partners in their birth decisions and experiences. I have seen day in and day out, year in and year out how much Elisabeth’s influence in my teaching has had on my clients’ birth outcomes. I am honoured to follow in her footsteps and feel very strongly that she should be honoured with this recognition.
Elizabeth Bing was very instrumental in changing the perception of birth for women throughout the world. She encouraged women to stand up for humanizing birth practices, and stand up they did! Through education and practical suggestions, Elizabeth helped change birth memories into to positive, life-changing ones that influenced the course of women in the last half of the 20th century. And, I am proud to say I am one of the women who changed her life because of Elizabeth.
In 1973 my first child was born. My back was not elevated, my legs were high in stirrups, but I used Lamaze techniques learned from the first childbirth educator in Roseburg, Or. Within the year, I began the process of becoming a certified educator myself and had Elisabeth Bing as my instructor for the formal classes in 1975, when they were finally offered close enough for me to attend. As with nursing itself, being a childbirth educator became part of who I am. Three years ago, that son born in 1973 went to the first midwife appointment with his wife. To his amazement, he found he had a store of knowledge about pregnancy he didn’t know was there. The things I learned from her permeated our lives and the people I taught still touch us now, at our church and at the ball field. Even those not in the business acknowledge her affect on their lives. A pianist friend spelled her daughter’s name with an “s” because of her reading about childbirth and the impact it had on her before we even met.
I don’t know anyone in medicine who has had such a world-wide effect by decreasing the use of medicine!
Elisabth Bing is such an inspiration. Helping women to believe in themselves and take charge of their bodies, birth and baby. Long live her wisdom! She truly believes that Peace on Earth begins with Birth! Thank you, Elisabeth Bing, for you dedication. She definitely gets 5 GIANT STARS, no -10 GIANT STARS from me.
Elisabeth Bing, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in 2003, has forever changed the face of childbirth in this country. She has paved the way for women and their partners to have a positive birth experience through providing evidenced based practice…Thank you, Elisabeth, for your kind heart and spirit. You will forever be an inspiration to me!
What a wonderful role model for women of all ages. Ms. Bing is a true pioneer in the field of normal birth. It is my hope that through this nomination more women will come to be empowered with their inborn ability to birth normally.
Elisabeth Bing is a role model for Women of all ages!
Elisabeth Bing is one of the Founding Mothers of mother-friendly childbirth. She always has believed in the self-efficacy of women and their ability to make their own best decisions. Her book, Six Practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth, not only guided me through the birth of my first child in 1981, its tenets (educate yourself, ready yourself, and go for it!) continue to inform my practice as a Lamaze teacher. Thank you Elisabeth Bing!
I became a childbirth educator 35 years ago after giving birth to my first child. We took Lamaze classes and after her birth, I decided to become a childbirth educator, and have spent my nursing career in the maternal-child field. I still have an original copy of her book, “Six Practical Lessons” in my library! Because of the dedication and passion this woman has for birth and sharing knowledge of helping women to enable themselves to participate activeley in her birth, many women have been helped by her! 2 friends went to her birthday party in NYC and said what a remarkable and dynamic woman she is! She has dedicated her entire life to promoting choices and options for normal birth, and I join with the others stating she should be recognized with this honor she is so deserving of. Thank you for allowing us to share about her, and thank you for honoring her!!
Faith Terry, RNC, LCCE
I was a fresh,”out of the box” Nurse-midwife working at Mt.Sinai Hospital in Manhattan when Sheldon Cherry,MD, approached me to take a Childbirth course called “Lamaze” from a lady who had a studio on the west side. Her name..Elizabeth Bing. This was in 1976.He then told me if I got certified, I could teach his patients Lamaze in his office (then a very busy practice on Park Ave.). This was the start of my exposure to impowering momen to make personal,decisive, smart healthy decisions. And today I still teach Lamaze in Chicago.Elizabeth is the reason for my passion to helping women be safe and educated.This is a great tribute to Elizabeth.Thanks.