Michel Odent

"Odent" redirects here. For the Belgian Para-cyclist, see Marvin Odent.

Michel Odent (2015)

Michel Robert Fortuné Odent (7 July 1930 – 19 August 2025) was a French obstetrician and childbirth specialist.[1]

Background

Born in Bresles, France, on 7 July 1930, Odent studied medicine at the Sorbonne in Paris and trained as a surgeon[2] in the 1950s. He has been described in The Lancet as “one of the last real general surgeons”.[3]

Odent died from complications of a stroke on 19 August 2025, in London, at the age of 95.[4][5][6]

Professional career

In charge of the surgical and maternity units of the Pithiviers hospital in France from 1962 to 1985, Odent developed a special interest in environmental factors influencing the birth process.[7] He introduced the concepts of birthing rooms, birthing pools, and singing sessions for pregnant women.

After his hospital career, Odent was involved in home birth, founded the Primal Health Research Centre in London, and designed a database (primalhealthhresearch.com) to compile epidemiological studies exploring correlations between conditions during the natal “primal period” and subsequent child and mother health. Odent was Visiting Professor at Odessa National Medical University.[citation needed] He received an honorary doctorate from Brasilia University in 2015.[8]

Publications

Odent was the author of the first articles[citation needed] about the initiation of breastfeeding during the hour following birth, the first article about the use of birthing pools during labour, and the first article applying the Gate control theory of pain to obstetrics.[9][10][11][12]

In a book published in 1986 (“Primal Health”), Odent provided evidence that homeostasis is established during the “primal period” (fetal life, birth and the months following birth): this is the phase of life when human basic adaptive systems are adjusting their “set point levels”. Odent later focused on the possible evolution of Homo sapiens in relation to the modern modes of childbirth.[13][14]

Odent was the author of 17 books published in 22 languages. In his books he constantly referred to the concept of reduced neocortical activity as a key to rediscover the basic needs of labouring women and to make possible a real “fetus ejection reflex”.[15]

His books include:

  • Birth Reborn (1984, Pantheon, NY)
  • Primal Health (1986. Century Hutchinson. London)
  • Water and sexuality (1990, Penguin Books)
  • The Farmer and the Obstetrician (Free Association Books)
  • The Caesarean (Free Association Books )
  • The Scientification of Love (Free Association Books)
  • The Functions of the Orgasms: The Highways to Transcendence (2009, Pinter & Martin Ltd.)
  • Childbirth in the Age of Plastics (2011, Pinter & Martin Ltd.)
  • Childbirth and the Future of Homo sapiens (2013, Pinter & Martin Ltd.), reissued as Childbirth and the Evolution of Homo sapiens in 2014
  • Do we need Midwives? (2015, Pinter & Martin Ltd.)
  • The Birth of Homo, the Marine Chimpanzee (2017, Pinter & Martin Ltd.)
  • The Future of Homo (2019, World Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd.)
  • Planet Ocean (2021. Clairview Books).
  • Can Humanity survive Socialised birth? (2023. Pinter & Martin).

See also

References

  1. ^ Campbell, Denis (17 October 2009). "Men should 'stay away from childbirth'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712.
  2. ^ Warren, Penny (11 September 2025). "Michel Odent obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  3. ^ Lifeline. About Michel Odent. Lancet 1999;353:764.
  4. ^ "Morre Michel Odent, francês que revolucionou a assistência ao parto". Cofen. 21 August 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Dr Michel Odent obituary: natural childbirth pioneer". The Times. 28 August 2025. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  6. ^ Nossiter, Adam (12 September 2025). "Michel Odent, Pioneer of Natural Childbirth, Is Dead at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  7. ^ Gillett J. Childbirth in Pithiviers, France. Lancet, 27 October, 1979:894-896.
  8. ^ "UnB - Universidade de Brasília - Doutor Honoris Causa". www.unb.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  9. ^ Odent M. The early expression of the rooting reflex. Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rome 1977. London: Academic Press, 1977: 1117–19.
  10. ^ Odent M. L’expression précoce du réflexe de fouissement. In : Les cahiers du nouveau-né 1978 ; 1-2 : 169–185
  11. ^ Odent M. Birth under water. Lancet 1983: pp1476–77.
  12. ^ Odent M. La reflexotherapie lombaire. Efficacité dans le traitement de la colique néphrétique et en analgésie obstétricale. La Nouvelle Presse Médicale 1975 ; 4 (3) :188
  13. ^ Odent M. Childbirth and the Future of Homo sapiens. Pinter & Martin. London 2013.
  14. ^ Odent M. What about the future of Homo sapiens? Human Evolution 2013 (in Press).
  15. ^ Odent M. The fetus ejection reflex. Birth 1987;14(2):104–105.
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Odent