Elaine, 

Would you be thinking of Grantly Dick-Read, Frederick Leboyer, Ferdinand Lamaze, Michel Odent, or someone else from that era?

Grantly Dick-Read's book, Childbirth Without Fear, is still in print.  The cover photo appears to reflect a lot of natural oxytocin going on: 
http://www.amazon.com/Childbirth-Without-Fear-Principles-Practice/dp/1780660553/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Here's a too-brief bio on Dick-Read (1890 - 1959) from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grantly_Dick-Read

Some quotations from Dick-Read: 
“It is as great a crime to leave a woman alone in her agony and deny her relief from her suffering as it is to insist upon dulling the consciousness of a natural mother who desires above all things to be aware of the final reward of her efforts, whose ambition is to be present, in full possession of her senses, when the infant she already adores greets her with its first loud cry and the soft touch of its restless body upon her limbs.”
 
“The newborn has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three.” 

“I emphasize this because some of my colleagues, for whose academic attainments I have great respect, argue: 'You assume too much; this is not proved; this is not strictly scientific. We disagree with your neurology and your psychiatry is misleading, therefore you must be wrong.' My reply has been, with all humility: 'Yes, of course,' and I have returned to the labor ward to be greeted by happy women with their newborn babies in their arms: 'How right you are, Doctor, it is so much easier that way.' That is what really matters to the clinician. He should use the method that gives the best and safest result from all points of view until something better is discovered.”  - Grantly Dick-Read

Here's an interview from The Guardian with Frederick Leboyer, now 95 years old:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/25/obstetrician-frederick-leboyer-childbirth 

Debra Swank, RN BSN IBCLC
Ocala FL USA

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