The Six Care Practices that Support Normal Birth

Lamaze’s six recommended care practices are a guide for creating a birth environment that lets you tap into your innate birth wisdom and give birth simply and easily. Regardless of your baby’s size, your labor’s length and complexity, or your confidence level, these care practices will help you keep your labor and birth as normal as possible.

• Care Practice 1: Labor should begin on its own
• Care Practice 2: Laboring women should be free to move throughout labor
• Care Practice 3: Laboring women should have continuous support from others throughout labor
• Care Practice 4: There should be no routine interventions during labor and birth
• Care Practice 5: Women should not give birth on their backs
• Care Practice 6: Mothers and babies should not be separated after birth and should have unlimited opportunity for breastfeeding