- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
2nd Trimester
pdxjenn
member
Question for those of you who DID take a childbirth class with your first
pdxjenn
member
Do you feel it was worth it? Did it really help you to be better prepared to labor and delivery? I am wavering. If you DID NOT take a class or do not plan to I don't need to know why... I would love to hear from those that went through it.
TIA
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Question for those of you who DID take a childbirth class with your first
I took a class through the hospital I was delivering at. It gave the standard education about your options for pain management and how to labor at home and some key things to know (like what information you need to be able to tell your doctor if your water breaks at home).
The best part was because it was through the hospital, I got to know all the rules and policies and procedures that my hospital has in place. Everything from visiting hours to phone use to how many people you can have in the delivery room or OR at a time. That I found very helpful!
Yes, absolutely worth every penny & minute spent. However, I knew going in that it was au natural or c-section as I can't have epi with meds I'm on so I wanted to be as prepared as possible. If I was planning on getting the epi then I'm not so sure they would be as valuable.
in my opinion, those classes are more for your partner than anyone. Your labor partner is to be your advocate during labor and will help to make sure that your wishes are heard and followed as best as possible. They also support you physically as you endure the pain and during the pushing phase of labor. The research shows that the better support a woman has during the labor the better the outcome and the fewer interventions needed. Even if you want to have pain medications, they are useful so you and your partner know what to expect and he/she will know how to support you through it.
And at the very least, it will help you to familiarize yourself with the hospital, hospital staff, L&D area, parking etc. Often they give you inside info on where to go etc. and it is nice to make connections with other couples who are giving birth around the same time.
9 angels in heaven-3 in my arms and 1 in the NICU
Mono/di twin girls: Josephine born to heaven and Evangeline born Earthside at 25w
Honestly, it wasn't. It could have just been my class. Most of the people I knew who took my class said the same thing. With the exception of breathing tecniques (which btw all went out the window when labor hit, I made up my own lol) I felt like there was nothing in the class that I didn't already know. I had already read most of it in one book or another, or had already gotten the info from my OB.
I've heard that the class to take is the caring for a newborn stuff. The one class we didn't take lol.
My answer would be very similar to this. It was kind of a pain to go for a number of evenings and DH wasn't a huge fan of the nurse who presented, but we thought that overall it was important to get the overview and get an idea of what happens. And yes, the tour was my favorite part
I'm glad you asked. With DD#1 I took the class. Then when it came time to deliver I had such a good delivery (drugs that is) that I never needed anything from the class (other than just the general info of what to expect which was nice). So with DD#2 I figured I don't need that..."it wasn't worth it"...well I was wrong. DD#2's delivery was VERY different. I had hard contractions early on and I really wished I had remembered some of the breathing and focusing techniques. I also progressed very quickly so i was in pain for quite a while befor getting epi.
I am taking the refresher course for this one.
I took a class and found it very useful. I purposely took it outside of the hospital as I was more interested in learning what was best for childbirth, not about hospital policy or what was best per hospital policy.
If you are preparing for a natural childbirth a class can be very valuable.
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
Ditto. The class really prepared DH for the support role. DH even tried to get me to breath using the technique during L&D.
It was also useful to know where to go if you go into labor in the middle of the night. For us, we have to go through the emergency room entrance to L&D after hour.
Since ours was through the hospital, the instructor also went over what to do after the baby is born. Our hospital is not very pro-breastfeeding, and she let us know that. She told us to be very vocal on no formula feeding and to have DH follow the baby up to the nursery b/c sometimes the nurse will give the baby a bottle when they are in the nursery. I think that's the most useful info.