WDYT?

bethany joy

DH thinks our birthing class is a waste of time... Are any first time moms not taking a class?

Azrayla

I didnt take any and birthed DD fine.. and shes still alive! Without an owners manual.

babybmom

My husband and I went. He was not happy about it, felt it was a waste of time, didn't pay attention, etc. I wouldn't necessarily say I learned a lot, but I'm glad I went for more of a peace of mind aspect. I feel better prepared.

michellechacon

I didnt tske sny classes at all. I feel totally prepared and fine, i have dealt with newborns before, never birthed but im so not nervous about thwt part, sctuslly im looking forward to it, i read thr bradley book and i felt thwt was enough for me to go into it with a level head. To me i dont feel bad not tsking a class, women have been having babies for centuries/millenia, before there were classes about how to do it.

becasmeca

We are not taking any. It does scare me...what if there is something new and different I do not know about? I trust that my body, nurses and doctors will know what to do when that time comes. HOPEFULLY...right?

emolm

My husband and I are going to an all-day class on Saturday b/c he wants to go. I've been the one dragging my feet b/c I feel like the Bradley books/practice is enough.

bre86ann

I didn't take a class with DD. I honestly felt like the baby was going to whether I took a class or not and saw no need for it.

This time around though I felt like things were spinning out of control (between my depression and anxiety and having to make a decision between VBAC or RCS) and needed to make this pregnancy feel like it wasn't just an extension of my pregnancy with DD so I needed to take the classes to give myself back the feeling of having a purpose and having a little bit of control and making it a separate pregnancy.

nybride10

we arent taking a class. we can't afford it. and dont have the time once dh goes back to work in 2 weeks

Tessababy4

I am sure you would be fine if you didn't take it. However, at our class, I knew most of the stuff but DH knew next to nothing. I think it was more beneficial for him than me. FWIW

water-fairy

We took them the first time around and found them a waste of time. DH and I had done a lot of reading by then. There was nothing they said at the birthing class that we didn't already know from books or Internet. I would not spend the money if I could go back.

corinneandalex's1st

Took the birthing class with DS.... BIG.WASTE.OF.TIME!

MyBun&Me

I'm a FTM and I didn't take a birthing class... I'm just going to listen to the experts (the Nurses and my Dr) when the time comes and God knows I've done enough research to know what to expect - which essentially is "expect the unexpected"... LOL

 

 

crzygirl

We watched a DVD and thought it was plenty.

justrachet

I felt less anxiety about giving birth after taking the class, but it did not "help" with the actual labor and delivery. I would have been fine without it, but it gave me some peace of mind having an idea of how things would go. It didn't go that way at all, but I felt better about it in the weeks leading up to delivery.

bethany joy

Thanks ladies. DH and I think we are fine, but my mom has really been adamant about it being done We will see. 

melissajoy1985

I'm glad there are other moms not taking classes.... My DH thought they were going to be a waste of money and time... and I have been around a million infants and pregnant ladies.... at 38 weeks now I'm not freaking out that I didn't take anything...

monona9

We took a birthing class when pregnant with DD and I am glad we did! It was for patients laboring at the hospital's birth center. I found it to be useful. It was comforting to go to the hospital for those few weeks learn where everything was at and meet other mom's to be. We had DD on the day before our last class and DH got to go in and talk to everyone about our birth story.

We're not doing it again this time (since we just did it last year).

DawnAM

I was a little skeptical, but I'm really glad I took the class.  It was good to hear the information directly from a nurse, and she was able to provide insight about how things are done at our birthing center.  It was also really nice to commiserate with other pregnant women IRL!

BeachBlondie456

we didnt take classes, between our two busy work schedules there was no way we could make it every week. Im sure everything will be fine without them. I have been around babies plenty, and read tons of books during this pregnancy, so i feel pretty prepared :-/ hopefully!

silverbell4

I didn't quite take a class...I thought they were too pricey for what knowledge would probably be gained. Instead, I went to the library and rented laugh and learn about childbirth, which was great IMO. My husband watched it with me and though it isn't super thorough, I think it makes him feel a bit more prepared and ready for what to expect, and I thought it was fun to watch. Plus, it was free!:) I love the library.

angel2288

I took one with DS, and it was a waste of time. Everything i needed to know for L&D was told to me by my MW

Mereou12

Meh. I took a childbirth class before DS was born, and it was pretty much worthless. But I had also just finished nursing school, so I didn't learn anything there that I hadn't already learned in my maternal-child courses. We spent a grand total of 5 minutes practicing breathing techniques...that was it. So that was zero help.

I think it all depends on the type of birth you want. If you have your heart set on a natural delivery, then taking advanced classes like Bradley or hypnobirthing would be very worthwhile. But if you're planning for pain meds/epidural, then just do a bit of reading about relaxation techniques, and you'll be fine. There's not much that you can't learn from Dr. Google.

 

HNLchick

Mine with DD was so bad I literally walked out mid class, SO bad.

T&HLove

In a way, I think they are a waste of time (and money, at least in my case-- I know some hospitals offer for free) but I am starting to get so anxious about the birth, that I am sooo looking forward to our class on Saturday. Hoping it will give me one less thing to worry about if I have a feeling like I know what I am getting into.

That being said, I'm pretty sure I will forget all knowledge gained while in labor, and the nurses will just end up telling me what to do anyway, so that's why it seems pointless.

ShawMich

I tend to agree with your DH, mostly because I never took a birthing class and I didn't feel any less prepared when I went in for baby #1.  I don't think anything can prepare you 100% for childbirth.  

But, if it makes you feel better--then it's worth it.  Do what you think is best. 

PrincessPeach13

I guess it depends on which class you are taking and how good the instructor is, but the birthing class we are taking through the hospital/public health department so far hasn't taught us anything that we haven't already learned by reading What to Expect and other similar material.  *Not entirely true actually- we did learn some cool stuff about breastfeeding that I didn't know yet, but I also kinda skipped that part in all the books I read, so maybe it was in there too.  I suspect it might be more helpful to take the classes if you are trying to go with a specific method (i.e. Bradley or Hypno), or if you aren't big on reading and researching on your own.  

Edit: Mostly I think it depends on the quality of the instructor and their enthusiasm for what they are doing.  The nurse who taught the first three classes in our course always ended class early and skipped material because she "had kids at home, and we all want to leave right?" Uhh, ok...  Also, informed the class that if you have a cat, you need to get rid of it while pregnant (this is where I totally stopped taking seriously anything she said) and that it is "not allowed"  to breastfeed your baby while sitting in bed.  No explanation, just that you aren't allowed, according to somebody.  So yeah, I might take classes again, but I would definitely do my research and make sure I had a good instructor and that it was going to be worth my time and money, and that the person knows what they are talking about.  I would not sign up for a class just to have taken a class, if that makes sense.

marie_0907

Ours was a series of classes. We skipped a couple and didn't feel bad about it. To each his own, I think.

lovelyophelia

Mine with DS was a waste of time. I did find our infant care and breastfeeding class to be very informative though.

Marettie

We aren't taking any classes, however DH has been doing a lot of reading. We are both of the mindset that this has been going on forever without classes so I think we'll be fine! I am going through the hypnobabies home course, and DH plans on reading the birthpartner guide book, but that's about it.

AmyLaurel89

I know most posters say its a waste but I can only speak from my experience that my birth class has meant SO much to me. I'm in at 12-week Bradley Method class which will end 2 days after my due date. (I got a late start) I know so much more now that I did in July and so many topics have come up that I thought I knew all about. This instructor focus on the options for a birth and how you can choose what you allow and what you question.

That is important for me since I don't want a birth that follows the norm of pitocin, epidural, episiotmy, done. That is just me though. I'm glad I took the time to educated about my options to avoid that. 

I don't think that classes are necessary but I know that I am more prepared and more confident in my ability to achieve the birth experience I want.  My DH attends with me and he has said over and over how he is more confident about labor and parenting in general. He benefits a lot from talking to the other dads since we are young and few of our friends are even married, let alone having kiddos.  

I just wanted to give you another perspective but like I said, that is just my experience and it may not help you. Truly, it seems to depend a lot on the type of class you take.  

Ms5586

We chose not to, because of the cost involved in them.  Instead, I went to our local library and checked out 5 different dvds (birth process, breastfeeding, that kind of thing).  That way, I can skip what I already know, watch what I want, and call DH in to watch what parts I think he'd like to know about.

And even better...FREE!

tblauvelt

I took one but I honestly could have gone without it. It was mostly for DH, he learned a lot and was very happy with it.