Childbirth class?

ilysarahd

How important is a childbirth class? My dr. keeps pushing it but there is limited availability so we might not be able to attend. I feel guilty I didn't think going a month ago.

Katierudolph31

If this is your first pregnancy, I say go. They really help ease your mind and your spouses mind about birth, something's will fly out the door while your in labor, but others will really help. You also learn tips on taking Care of baby, infant CPR and first aid. If you really don't want to go to the class, you can get them on DVD

lil fox

The one i went to was through my hospital. It was no good. My hubby, who has read far less than I, said he didn't really learn anything either. If I had to do it over again, I would have done a real class - like Bradely or Lamaze or hypnobirthing. Since it was kind of too late to sign up for one of those by the time I had the hospital one, we are doing home study of hypnobabies, which I'm psyched about. If you are planning on natural, I would say do a class that is multiple weeks and supports natural. My hospital one was anti-natural birth and did nothing to prepare us. I was told repeatedly to "just get an epidural" which is all fine and good as long as you want an epidural. If you are getting an epidural, I'm not sure if you really need to feel guilty about possibly missing a class. I think the point of the class that I attended was mainly to ease fears of interventions and epidurals and explain how birth happens (which is already in the books anyway). Of course, your hospital may be better. Mine has a 91% rate of using epidurlas (gee...wonder why that is...perhaps because the childbirth class only prepares you for getting one...) My mom did Lamaze and had 2 natural births. I've spoken to women who didn't do a class and had epidurals and they said they were fine because the nurses just told them what to do. I think it really depends on the labor you are aiming to have. 

Renee1105

I had the opposite experience. My hospital's prepared childbirth class was wonderful. The morning session consisted of natural pain relief and labor followed by a tour of the hospital. In the afternoon we talked about the epidural. I learned a lot and it was the best place to ask about hospital policy and procedure.

theimpossibleastronaut

Our class was great. DH and I learned a lot, and we got to ask a lot of questions. The nurse who taught our class was wonderful and she even sat with us at lunch and answered more questions.

aml519

We had a really good experience with ours. It especially was helpful for DH. He learned a lot and said he felt much more prepared and comfortable about the L&D experience after the class.

omgitsrojo55

I also had a positive experience at my childbirth class. I took an "express" class, so it was a one day 10-5p class, and it flew by! We spent time talking about the different stages of labor and what to expect with each. We also spent time talking about interventions, inductions, medication, and ended with natural pain relief techniques. I learned that my hospital has a 95% epidural rate (yikes!), but, I could tell that the nurse that taught the class also supports natural pain relief techniques as well. I just thought it was a good education about the whole labor process and even if you know what kind of birth you want, it's always good to have knowledge about both sides , as we all know things don't always go as planned. Good luck to you! 

meggipi5

I did the online one through babycenter.com. I'd read a lot of the information, but still found it to be helpful as a FTM.

 

 

kbates85

I know there are plenty of people who never take birth classes and just do their own research however I knew that if I didn't take the classes I would probably never do the research either. That's just me though. For what it's worth, I wasn't really looking forward to taking the class but we took our first class last week and I'm sooo glad that we did. I loved it (we're learning the Bradley Method). I will also say that we are having a natural birth at a birth center, not a hospital, so I felt it was pretty essential to either take the classes or "teach" myself. 

holly321

I didn't take one with dd, I ended up having a non emergent csection, because she was beech, so it didn't matter. I was considering one this time, several of my friends said they felt like theirs was a waste of time. I plan to do some research on my own.

Morgan Farrahar

My husband and I decided not to do one, mostly for money and time constraint reasons, but also because we have done a lot of research on our own and I feel confident in my ability to handle the natural labor and birth. 

I did discuss the decision with my doula first and though she always recommends a class she said we would be fine without it as long as we did our own reading.

The one thing she did recommend was that my husband watch a lot of birth videos, especially ones where the women are very vocal, because she said it can be kind of surprising to them. 

bustdstuff

Even if you're having a hospital birth try a local birthing home. My birthing home classes are 9 weeks and cover everything from first signs of labor to breast feeding and pediatricians visits. I've been reading plenty, and have still learned a lot from my classes.