Main Entry: La·maze

Pronunciation: \lə-ˈmäz\

Function: adjective

: relating to or being a method of childbirth that involves psychological and physical preparation by the mother in order to suppress pain and facilitate delivery without drugs

La·maze \lȧ-mȧz\ Fernand (1890–1957), French obstetrician. Lamaze was the director of an obstetric clinic in France. In 1951 he attended a gynecologic conference where he learned for the first time a method of psychophysical conditioning aimed at the suppression of pain during a normal childbirth. After further study of psychophysical conditioning in the Soviet Union, he added a rapid accelerated breathing technique to the Soviet childbirth program and began implementing his modified method of natural childbirth in France.