Tadashi Yoshimura Born in 1932. Graduated School of Medicine,
Nagoya University. Doctor of Medicine. In 1961, he replaced his father as
director of Yoshimura Hospital. In the 45 years since, he has attended over
20,000 natural childbirths. He avoids medical intervention and drugs as much as
possible in antenatal care, and has maintained low rates of 5% for Caesarean
sections and 0.5% for vacuum delivery. He gives more than fifty lectures around
the country every year and is featured often on the media. He is also very
knowledgeable about Japanese traditional culture and antiques and leads a
lifestyle similar to that of the Edo period. His books include: “Birth! A Mystery of Life” (published by
Shunjusha Publishing Company) “Birth is Fun” (published by Rural Culture
Association Noubunkyo)
“Birth Should be Natural” (Rural Culture Association
Noubunkyo)
Dr. Yoshimura’s words
“Although the true nature of obstetrics
is in preventive medicine, today, the therapeutic aspect is considered as more
important. Most maternity hospitals do not place significance on preventive
care.
The reason for the many abnormal labours and the fact that having a
baby without the intervention of doctors has become almost impossible is that
with the modernization of society people have stopped using their bodies and as
a result have significantly impaired their physical abilities. The bodies of
Japanese people have changed also due to westernized food and excessive
consumption. This lifestyle characteristic to modern society has changed birth
from being a natural process to a process that needs medical attention.
At
Yoshimura Clinic, an Edo period house has been reconstructed where we encourage
the mothers to perform traditional housework in which they use their bodies, eat
traditional Japanese food, walk and move their bodies everyday. And this is how
we realize completely natural childbirth. I would like to introduce to the
western world our practices at Yoshimura Clinic which has brought in Japanese
culture to obstetrics
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