[An Analysis of the Controversy on the Psychoprophylaxis Method in the Japanese Medical Journal "Obstetrics and Gynecology," 1954-1957].

Abstract

The methods of painless childbirth are generally divided into two kinds: "with drugs" and "without drugs." In Japan, the full-scale initiation of these two types of painless childbirth methods in clinical practice started in the early 1950s. The practice of the psychoprophylaxis method (PPM)--one of the painless childbirth methods "without drugs"--started in 1953. Japanese obstetricians had discussed the practicability of PPM for painless childbirth and had doubted the scientific nature and originality of PPM as a viable method. Therefore, they published a series of articles in the Japanese medical journal "Obstetrics and Gynecology" from 1954 to 1957. Two representative obstetricians developed this controversy. Naotaro KUJI, the director of the Central Maternity Hospital of the Japanese Red Cross Society and the chief practitioner of PPM, emphasized that PPM was a more practical method, considering the Japanese medical legal situation where midwives were prohibited to use drugs. On the other hand, Kakuichi ANDO, the chief professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Keio University and the team leader of the practitioners of painless childbirth "with drugs," doubted the practicability of PPM. In the course of these discussions, both groups of obstetricians gradually came to a consensus to use the concept of "pain relief" in labor, instead of "painless" childbirth. They also agreed to adopt methods "with drugs" and "without drugs," including PPM, according to the presented case.