Maryland Babies
shorty40cdm
member
Childbirth/Infant Care Class Recs?
shorty40cdm
member
I'm due 6/10 and would like to get registered for a childbirth and infant care class sometime in the next 2 months. I'm planning on delivering at Mercy and am also planning on getting an epidural (not terribly excited about natural childbirth though love that there's lots of options for everyone). I'd appreciate any recommendations on classes--thanks!
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Re: Childbirth/Infant Care Class Recs?
BFP#1: 01/10, M/C 6w
BFP#2: 06/10, M/C 5w
BFP#3: 09/10, DS born June 1, 2011
BFP#4: 07/12, M/C 5w3d
BFP#5: 12/12, EDD 08/18/13
My Blog: Decorate This
I didn't deliver at Mercy, but we did Infant Care and Childbirth classes. I wouldn't say that I learned a lot from either one, but they at least gave me the peace of mind that I thought I knew what I was doing. Just my nature, if I wouldn't have taken the classes, I would have always wondered if I could have learned something that I didn't already know.
If you want to take a tour of the L&D, I suggest trying to set the date for that ASAP. At Howard County, the tours were booked up months in advance. I couldn't get on the schedule until about a week before my due date. I felt really uneasy that I might have the baby without ever even seeing the inside of the hospital.
x2 and like PP I didn't "learn" a lot in childbirth class, but it made me feel better to have gone. It also made me feel like DH was more prepared to help after that. I didn't do infant care,but the best thing to me was the hospital tour. I got to see where to go and learn the procedures of my particular hospital. It took some anxiety out of things when I showed up in labor. So, even if you can't do classes at your hospital, make sure you do the tour. For what it's worth, I liked my 1-weekend class at Howard County.
Baby Girl #2 is on her way!
I am definitely glad that we did the child birth class.
My daughter came several weeks early and the delivery was really fast. The only thing that prevented me from having her before the NICU team arrived was my husband coaching me to breathe through the contractions. DD was out in 3 contractions once I was allowed to push. The NICU team had arrived, but the on call OB still wasn't tfinished scrubbing up! I have no idea who "caught" my daughter.
You should look to see what Mercy offers becuase normally they will include info about the hospitals specific policies such as howe many people you can have in the room with you when delivering, visiting policies etc.
On the off chance that Mercy doesn't have the classes, or if those don't work for you, the classes at GBMC were great.
Thank you, everyone! I called Mercy and they don't have their upcoming schedule ready just yet...will call back in 2 weeks.
BUT, I was told that the department is scheduled to move to a new building on my due date! That will make life interesting that week, I'm sure
I also took my child are prep class at the hospital where I delivered. I took notes, because I wanted so badly to follow he suggestions when I was in labor. I actually did read the notes, while in active labor, and at the time, I totally felt they were helping to ease my mind.
My class was one day, for about 8 hours. I did not pay too much attention to the c sections portion, and what do you know...I ended up with an emergency c section. So...my suggestion is to get familiar with every aspect of childbirth, just in case. It would've made things a bit less scary for me, I think.
Good luck!
I took classes at Upper Chesapeake, so I don't know that my experiences count....
If you are planning on BF, see if there are any BF classes. I almost didn't take it bc I figured it was natural, and I'd figure it out on my own, but I'm actually really glad that I took it-- I am 100% positive I would not have been successful with bf had I not learned things there. Mostly stuff about how often babies eat and what too expect, different holds, how to tell if they are getting enough, etc. I got a lot out of it, even if I did feel like a total DB sitting there with a babydoll practicing holds. lol
I took the childbirth class offered at Mercy and found it really helpful. I am not sure if the instructor I had is still there, since she has recently started offering private classes. It did focus a lot on natural childbirth, but also focused on knowing what interventions might be offered or used so that parents would be aware about what was going on during labor.
I didn't have an epi, but was glad to learn about how they worked if I had decided one. My birth didn't go exactly as planned and some intervention was necessary. When the Doctors presented me with my options, I felt like I was able to make educated choices, because of the prep I had in that class.