Flora Hommel Papers

drice — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:59:57 -0400

Flora Suhd Hommel was one of the pioneers who brought the Lamaze
psychoprophylactic method of painless childbirth to the United States, establishing an
important teaching organization in Detroit, the Childbirth Without Pain Education
Association (CWPEA). She championed the rights of women to control childbirth,
creating a grass-roots movement contemporaneous with the women’s movement of the
1960s-1970s. Hommel and the CWPEA were important catalysts in establishing similar childbirth and parenting organizations and teacher-monitrice accreditation programs across the United States.

Hommel's papers reflect her career working with the Lamaze method. Most of the
collection is comprised of CWPEA documents and correspondence from its
establishment through the 1990s-- records of events, classes and projects, including the
birthing center and the making of an American version of the well-respected French
childbirth film “Naissance.” Of particular interest may be the many birth reports—
extensive narrations of the birth experiences of CWPEA students. There is substantial
overlap between correspondence in Hommel’s personal papers and the CWPEA
correspondence. A sampling of newsletters and documents from national childbirth and
parenting organizations is included in the papers. Several boxes of ICEA materials and a
small amount of ASPO materials are located in Series III.

In Memoriam: Flora Hommel, 1928-2015

aergas — Thu, 21 May 2015 17:18:46 -0400

The Reuther Library notes with sorrow the passing on May 15 of Flora Suhd Hommel.

Hommel was one of the pioneers who brought the Lamaze psychoprophylactic method of painless childbirth to the United States, establishing an important teaching organization in Detroit, the Childbirth Without Pain Education Association (CWPEA). She championed the rights of women to control childbirth, creating a grass-roots movement contemporaneous with the women’s movement of the 1960s-1970s. Hommel and the CWPEA were important catalysts in establishing similar childbirth and parenting organizations and teacher-monitrice accreditation programs across the United States. read more »

Women, gender, and health

Flora Hommel Papers

In Memoriam: Flora Hommel, 1928-2015