MD, the world-wide Legend of obstetrics/midwifery, experienced in work with homebirth since 1962, the worldwide known pioneer in introduction of concepts home-like birthing rooms and birthing pools (maternity unit at Pithiviers Hospital, France), founder of Primal Health Research Centre (London, UK) (www.primalhealthresearch.com), author of 17 books on birth and primal roots of health (published in 23 languages) and over 100 professional papers, developer of the Paramana Doula Course (www.paramanadoula.com), developer of the preconceptional programme (the ‘accordion method’) (featured in eminent medical journal The Lancet and in TV documentaries such as the BBC film Birth Reborn), popularizer of the natural childbirth in the world.

Michel Odent is the author of the first article in the medical literature about the use of birthing pools (The Lancet 1983), of the first article about the initiation of lactation during the hour following birth, and of the first article applying the “Gate Control Theory of Pain” to obstetrics. He is the author of 17 books published in 23 languages. After his hospital career he practiced homebirths. Odent’s 21st-century books (The Scientification of Love, The Farmer and the Obstetrician and The Caesarean) may be regarded as a trilogy. They raise urgent questions about the future of our civilizations.