I'm a Bradley instructor and I can tell you that Bradley most definitely *is* natural, but as with ANY class you take, a lot has to do with your instructor. Dr. Bradley did do waaaaaaay more episiotomies than we'd think was a realistically warranted number and eventually he came to realize that. He also changed his views on homebirth near the end of his life after realizing that every hospital didn't run the way his did. But the book doesn't reflect these things. He really was a pioneer though, paving the way for many women to have the kind of experience they - and their partners - desire.
I really don't see the husband-as-coach thing as something meant in ANY way to keep the woman in her place (quiet, within her husbands control, etc.). The *reason* Dr. Bradley began advocate husbands (partners, whatever) in the delivery room was 2 fold. First, he noticed in those rare instances that the woman's partner was present, her perception of pain changed dramatically (i.e. she handled the pain better). Second, following one of his early births (when husbands were still not involved), the wife had been estatic about the birth. She kissed him and thanked him for showing her how to birth. He walked to the waiting room to give the husband the news and found that husband wracked with fear. He was just there waiting - as husbands did - to find out if his wife and baby were okay. Dr. Bradley realized then and there that the mother's love should have been bestoyed on her husband. He saw this as an opportunity for partners to bond. The husband should be the one loving and supporting his wife, not the doctor. And he felt shame that the mother had fallen a little bit in love with *him* during this process when it should have been her husband. So that's why he began bringing husbands in. And with this came training them.
Have you seen untrained husbands when their wife gives birth? They might do just great - particulary if everything goes status quo - but without the understanding of normal birth they're more likely to panic or deviate from their wife's birth plan if something "appears" to be going wrong (like how a woman in transition might appear to someone who hasn't been prepped for what this is). We help partners in our classes learn to communicate with each other, make decisions with each other about the pregnancy and birth. We help them to become more partnered together by sharing this experience, and the responsibilities it caries, together. Parenting is hard, as we all know, and going through such an important time and making these very important decisions is good groundwork for what lies ahead. Now if the baby should have some problems following the birth - or even later in life - they might just be a little more prepared to work together as a team on these issues. That's not to say that you have to take this class to have a good partnership with your sig. other, but I think it really does help a lot of couples and this is a big part of the reasoning behind why we have husbands/partners as coaches.
We *do* teach the side lying relaxation position but we don't teach that this position should be used any more than the woman wants to use it. I see this as a common misconception. It's just another tool for them to use and it's a great one if it works for you (never worked for me). I have heard that the Bradley Method discourages women from making noise (although I wasn't taught this at any point during my teacher training) and that the reason for this pertains directly to hospital birth. In many hospitals, a loud birther is a woman who has the staff baggering her constantly to lay down and take drugs. She may be literally berated by the staff for her noise making - scaring other patients, etc. So I get that, although I'd say screw em. I'd never teach a woman to try to be quiet during labor, and like I just mentioned, I was never taught by the AAHCC to do so.
Now if you wanna talk natural, the co-founders of the AAHCC couldn't advocate a more natural approach. They seriously have issues with the medical establishment (although it's not pushed in class) including vaccinations, well-baby checks, things commonly done even by the more "natural" for birth such as rotating a baby (they think there may well be a good reason for the baby's position and trying to force a change might not be wise), jaundice (except the type that shows up immediately) being anything pathological, etc. Anyway, let me know if you want more info. I feel like I'm rambling and getting totally OT so I'll stop. I just think a lot of people have HUGE misconceptions about what Bradley really is.
The women and men who keep the AAHCC alive and well today took his basic ideas and ran with them - sometimes far far away from what he originally said! (Such as episiotomies being every woman's blessing.)
