Michel Odent MD was in charge of the surgical unit and the maternity unit at the Pithiviers (France) state hospital from 1962–85.
For many years he was the only doctor overseeing around 1,000 births a year. He is the author of the first article in the medical literature about the initiation of lactation during the hour following birth (1977), the first article about the use of birthing pools (1983), and the first article applying the ‘gate control theory of pain’ to obstetrics (1975).
He created the Primal Health Research database (www.primalhealthresearch.com) and he has been a member of the Professional Advisory Board of La Leche League International for 40 years. He is a Visiting Professor at the Odessa National Medical University and Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Brasilia.
