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This article analyses Soviet-Czechoslovakian medical relations during the Cold War through a case study of one approach to labour pain management. Formulated in the USSR and popularised in the West as the Lamaze Method, psychoprophylaxis used breathing and relaxation techniques to combat labour pain. Inspired by fealty, Czechoslovakians joined Soviet efforts to prove psychoprophylaxis effective but, despite points of convergence, their research agendas diverged significantly, suggesting a degree of national autonomy. Moreover, Soviet and Czechoslovakian researchers showed considerable interest in work conducted on the other side of the Iron Curtain, especially in France and the United States.