Dr. Michel Odent, MD, OB/GYN – Honorary Member

Celebrating the Legacy of Michel Odent Michel Odent, MD, OB/GYN, has been presented in the Lancet as “one of the last real general surgeons.” He directed the surgical and maternity units of the Pithiviers hospital in France from 1962-1985, where he introduced the concepts of home-like birthing rooms, birthing pools, and singing sessions for pregnant women. He founded the Primal Health Research Centre in London, and designed a database (primalhealthhresearch.org) to compile epidemiological studies exploring correlations between what happens during the “primal period” (conception to the end of the first year of life) and health into adulthood. He is the author of 14 books published in 22 languages. His books constantly refer to the concept of reduced neocortical activity as a key to rediscover the basic needs of laboring women and to make possible a real “fetus ejection reflex.” His books include: Birth Reborn, Primal Health, The Farmer and the Obstetrician, The Caesarean, The Scientification of Love, The Functions of the Orgasms: The Highways to Transcendence, Childbirth in the Age of Plastics, Childbirth and the Evolution of Homo sapiens, and Do We Need Midwives? His most recent work focused on what he termed "womb ecology" and pointed to the possible evolution of Homo sapiens in relation to the modern ways of being born. Dr. Michel Odent worked closely with BirthWorks for decades as an active member of our Board of Advisors. He invited our Founder, Cathy Daub, to speak at his conferences, including The Mid-Atlantic Conference on Birth and Primal Health Research in 2010, and The Mid-Pacific Conference on Birth and Primal Health Research in 2012. He co-sponsored our conferences [such as Primal Health: Global Lessons from the Womb Conference in 2009 and Peace in Birth Conference in 2019]. His interdisciplinary research impacts all our offerings, and those training with us know his work well. Michel passed away in August 2025, will be dearly honored by our community—and his brilliance and loving heart greatly missed.