Grantly Dick-Read was a doctor, obstetrician, lecturer and a pioneering researcher in support of less medicalised ways of childbirth.  His first book, NATURAL CHILDBIRTH postulated that excessive pain in labour results from muscular tension arising from fear of the birth process, so if the mother is able to relax sufficiently, her pain in childbirth would be substantially reduced. He therefore proposed that pregnant women attend a course of study to learn more about the birth process and to learn breathing techniques and relaxation exercises to use during labour.

Grantly Dick-Read’s natural methods of childbirth became popular in the mid-1950s, and have been influential ever since. It was reported that the Duchess of Cambridge used his techniques when she gave birth to Prince Louis in 2018. Grantly Dick-Read became the first President of the National Childbirth Trust in 1956, and is commemorated by a blue plaque at his former surgery in Harley Street.