Bradley method?

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I have heard people talk about the Bradley method. They generally speak poorly of it.

One doctor told me that she heard people who wanted to do the bradley method of labor, were told my their instructor not to tell their OB until they walked into the hospital in labor. This doctor was beyond being ticked off.

What exactly is this controversial Bradley method?

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this method, developed by american obstetrician robert bradley in the ... i think there should be more philosophy's that sate the methods of child birth, ...

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy... - 66k - aug 4, 2007 - similar pages

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/childbirth/631.html

just google bradley birth method...many more citations

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The "horrible" things that I have heard about Bradley usually revolve around the bent that the Bradley method has against the modern obstetrical model of "induction - IV - pitocin - epidural", otherwise known as the cascade of interventions. Some Bradley instructors can be pretty anti-hospital, and some hospitals are anti-informed choice (my opinion-my experience).

I've heard of OBs refusing to continue caring for Bradley patients if they find out during prenatal care, so the idea that they are told not to tell their OB that doesn't surprise me at all. Personally, I like Bradley patients more than ones who have no clue why they are being induced or what is going to happen to them.....

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Specializes in obstetrics(high risk antepartum, L/D,etc.

I worked "with" Dr Bradley for several years. His method is similar to LaMaze, but he not only discourages medication during labor, he forbids it. He became livid if a patient asked for medication, let alone made any noise that might signify discomfort. I saw him yell at patients and their support persons, and I have seen him hit a patient because she insisted that she needed medication. He told her she wanted to kill her baby.

I also took issue with his practice of placing the baby to breast upon delivery. He felt this was "the only way" the placenta would deliver. It didn't matter what the Apgar score was, or if there was another reason to delay putting baby to breast.

He wasn't a pleasant person to have on the unit, and the fact that he was not to be called in till delivery was emminent was to our (and his patients) benefit. He would become very uncomfortable if the patient wasn't crowning on his arrival. "Don't you nurses know anything?"

His method, itself is great, but the fact that he was so difficult and not patient/nurse friendly left me with a bad feeling about him.

He is no longer in practice, and may have died by now.

Use his method if you want, (it is a very good method) but so many of the instructors have inherited his attitudes that the method has become very unpopular among OB nurses and OB/GYNs.

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I had a "bradley" birth. What I took from the 12 week class was that I am an informed consumer. I have choices regarding my birth and If I don't want to be hooked up to a fetal monitor or have an IV running the whole time, it is my choice not to have it. I thought the class was wonderful. It taught about the importance of nutrition and it really involved the father in the whole process. It taught me how to relax through the contractions and to not panic. I managed an intervention free hospital birth after 22 hours of labor... I think it is a good birthing program.

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Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.

Where I used to work in No. CA, the Bradley trained father was given the mandate to "protect" his wife from the evil medical procedures, personnel and anything that in any way could be taken as intervention. The fathers were trained to answer any and all questions we asked, and I had one who physically put himself between me and the patient so that we could not even see each other.

Perhaps this is, in part, why OB nurses and physicians, think less than positively about the Bradley method of childbirth.

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Isn't it funny how it seems that it's always the MEN who want to tell the WOMEN how they should act, think and feel durring labor? :trout: I just want to see ONE of them got though HALF the pain of labor and then tell us all how easy it is to "focus" and "just breath slowly...in through the nose out through the mouth"!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for going natural, if that's what you want to do, but I COMPLETELY understand the feeling that you're going to pass out from pain (with my second I had to be induced-almost 10lbs at 39wks-and was 10x more pain with him than my daughter who was 90% natural-had some IVmed that wore off, then labored for another few hours until I got a spinal once I'd already to to 10cm and had to push, but they wanted me to wait for her heart to recover...had they told me, or had I known that she was in that much trouble I would have said C-SECTION, but they didn't seem to think that was my business:angryfire)

But anyway, I went to some childbirth classes when I was preg with my first, and studdied up on alot of different methods and FOR ME I thought it worked best to just take in as much as you can so that you have some "tools" in your box, and when you actually get there you can choose which ones you want to use. And even if you get to your first contraction and decide you want the drugs, at least you had something to help pass the time;)!

Have a Great Day!

Chancie

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To clarify, it's really not like Lamaze at all. It's a 10 or 12 week course that teaches a set number of items. It starts with prenatal nutrition, works up to labor support, breastfeeding, interventions and caesareans, postpartum care, fetal development, etc. The methods of dealing with the pain of labor include relaxation techniques that involve relaxing the body, using guided imagery, that sort of thing. There is no rhythmic breathing.

I took the Bradley classes when pregnant with my first and I think everyone should take them. It really presents information you wouldn't get in any other class. It is obviously biased towards natural birth but hospital classes are often biased towards hospital policy and procedure so there's really no happy medium- I would rather err on the side of the person who will not gain from unnecesary c-sections, inductions, etc.

It is anti-hospital in the sense that it advocates for the woman to make informed choices about what she wants and what is safe- this goes against the way many hospital L & Ds operate. In the classes the couple's preferences are very painstakingly laid out. The purpose of the husband as coach is to make sure he is equally informed as the woman. Women in labor are very vulnerable and are often coerced into things they don't want. That's where the husband stands as the patient's advocate and support.

Bradley gets a bad rap because many providers do not appreciate being questioned. There are a few overbearing people out there who give a bad impression of Bradley- but I think the majority of people just want the opportunity to make informed health care choices.

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Have you ever worked with a patient who had a hostile attitude towards you even though you are seeing them for the first time?

I find it interesting that there are so many gurus and beliefs that surround birth, but not other bodily/medical issues. I have heard of birth plans and the birthing experience. I wonder ,for the humor, what a "trauma ICU experience "or plan would be like?

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Part of the difference is that birth is not seen as a medical emergency by many women. It is a natural process which has been happening unheeded MOST of the time for all of history. This might be one reason that women feel the need to protect themselves and their babies from the "medical establishment" and the rules herein. Obviously, a Trauma ICU experiance would be very different, because it IS a medical emergency.

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I took a Bradley class for home birth. Overall the Bradley method of childbirth is great. I really like that it involves the father and gives him a (short) list of things he can do to help, instead of endless pages of suggestions that leave his head swimming with a bunch of stuff he'll never remember.

The 'emotional signposts' of labor it teaches are great! - sort of a crash course for the layperson in being able to tell how far along the labor has progressed. They are very true for most women.

The down side to Bradley is that it often puts the parents and staff in an adversarial position when there is no reason for it. In any case, it produces patients with backbones who know their rights.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
Have you ever worked with a patient who had a hostile attitude towards you even though you are seeing them for the first time?

I find it interesting that there are so many gurus and beliefs that surround birth, but not other bodily/medical issues. I have heard of birth plans and the birthing experience. I wonder ,for the humor, what a "trauma ICU experience "or plan would be like?

How interesting of a thought...

Honestly, if someone came into my ICU with a "DKA plan"...well, I don't know quite how I'd react. "No insulin gtts" or "no Q1 hr BS".

I can easily see now how this method, or excessive birth plans come across to staff....

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