Childbirth class... worth it... or waste of time?

pdxjenn · September 2009

Hey ladies, popping over from 2nd Tri...

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 I don't need to know why... I would love to hear from those that went through it.

TIA

christin3580 · September 2009

waste.. i used the money for my epidural lol

grinsandgiggles · September 2009

My opinion - watch childbirth and breastfeeding videos (get from library, watch on YouTube, etc). It's cheaper and you learn more.

katypresson · September 2009

It was alright...but more for DH to hear everything. I had already read everything online they went over. Don't think it was worth the money in the end.

b15chik · September 2009

Ours was a total waste, I knew more than the teacher

pdxjenn · September 2009

christin3580:
waste.. i used the money for my epidural lol

Awesome Yes

MiaVonT · September 2009

we took a few classes ..... the child birth one IMHO wasn't that informative .... except the breathing techniques (which I tried to use but in the moment ya do whatever makes ya comfy) ............ pretty much everything they covered was already learned watching the Discovery Channel .... maybe my class just sucked

Sweetgurl6630@yahoo.com · September 2009

grinsandgiggles:
My opinion - watch childbirth and breastfeeding videos (get from library, watch on YouTube, etc). It's cheaper and you learn more.

This. I ended up with a c-section cause DS was frank breech, but I read and watched everything I could get my hands on!

criticalmass · September 2009

We took Bradley classes and even though I wound up with a c-section we learned so much it was totally worth it. It also helped with breastfeeding because we went over that in the class. I highly recommend bringing your DH to a breastfeeding class because my DH helped me latch for the first week and it was wonderful having the help from him!

gizmo909 · September 2009

No, but that's because I was never really in labor. I ended up with an emergency c/s instead. However, I will say that I didn't learn anything new in the class so I would probably have said no anyways.

raisbaib · September 2009

Waste. it was completely pointless.

deeanneharris · September 2009

I already knew I was going to get an epi, so no. I would at least recommend taking a hospital tour if you can so that you are prepared about where to go and how things will work. Also, like PP said, watch some videos. Most of our class was videos anyway and you can watch only the ones you feel like you need to watch.

mfransdell · September 2009

Helpful only because I had an emergency Csection. I remember DH and I were going to skip that class because we were so sure were wouldnt need it and we had a BBQ to go to that night, but we went and I am so happy we did. I scheduled my classes so late that I went into labor and ended up with my Csection only 3 days later and so the info was fresh in my mind. I was super prepared with what to expect recovery wise and during the surgery.

Every other part was pretty pointless though, I learned more in my own research online and in books and from other moms then the class. But It helped to familiarize us with the hospital and I guess it made it more "real" in a way.

majors31 · September 2009

we did it and while there wasn't a whole lot of new information for me, it did make me feel a little more prepared and gave me a feel of what to expect at our hospital.

ours was free, though. i'm not sure i would have done it if we had to pay.

peachypear · September 2009

I'm glad we took our classes. We did the general class at our hospital and a couple of natural birth seminars. Liked both. Definitely helped me labor med-free longer and helped me understand all the gadgets in the hospital. What DH and I found interesting was that the things presented that we didn't think we'd use were actually what we used most! I did a lot of reading on my own, but it was helpful for me to see and try out everything.

Plus, the parents in our hospital class were awesome, and we still get together. It's so nice to have an automatic mommy group. I don't think that's super common, though.

pdxjenn · September 2009

Thanks so much ladies, your answers were kind of what I was already thinking.

I'm gonna do a brestfeeding class, and newborn care... but no childbirth class.

All your babies are so adorable, makes me very exited for my son!

DesignsOnYou · September 2009

We took our class from the Birthing Center. so it was kind of "free" since you could take it or not and it didn't affect your overall cost.

I found it informative but honestly, I think it was more for my DH than for me. He came out of every class with lots of questions for the Midwife so it helped him quite a bit and made him more involved ;-)

So, in that regards - it was very worth it. It was a fun bonding thing to do as well.

MattysGirl81 · September 2009

We took the generic hospital childbirth class and found it to be a waste of time. I didn't learn anything new. But I didn't want anything special or fancy in L&D, I basically went with the flow. I learned everything I needed by reading and here on the boards.

Mike&Care · September 2009

Get Sheri Bayles DVD and skip the actual class. The dvd is super informative and made us LOL b/c the lady is such a dork. Plus you can do it in the comfort of your own home.

Bride7-7-07 · September 2009

My Bradley class was some of the best money that I ever spent. It helped me to have a natural and unmedicated birth even after 32 hours of labor.

lighthousenight · September 2009

We took a one day "express" class at our hospital, it lasted about 5 hours and then we took a tour of the labor and delivery rooms. It was worth it. It actually helped put things in perspective for me and made me less anxious about the having the baby.

jolis_petits_bijoux · September 2009

Definitely worth it. I had an epidural and I'm still glad I took it. You usually don't get an epi right away, and you will have to deal with a certain amount of labor pain before you get that epi. I got my epi around 3-1/2 or 4 cm, and before that I was in agony. I'm so glad I had that class. A couple of the parts were not helpful... but overall, I'm so glad we took it. I had a terrible labor and ended up with a C/S.

I suppose you could do some internet research in lieu of taking the class, but don't not prepare. Things you'll want to learn are - signs of labor, how to time contractions, breathing techniques, etc. Or, as an alternative, hire a doula. (Definitely hire a doula if you're thinking about med-free). At least in my hospital, the nurses were not particularly helpful. Sure, they were there to monitor me, check on me on occasionally, but they were not there with me during contractions. They didn't start to come around frequently until what we thought was the end.

lovesazzie · September 2009

SOOOO worth it -- I went drug free.

MrsWanee · September 2009

if you are going to try to do a natural birth, then it might be worth it. i ended up getting an epidural and didn't use any of the breathing techniques we learned. it was interesting for my DH, but not worth the money, i don't think.

ExpectingAngel · September 2009

grinsandgiggles:
My opinion - watch childbirth and breastfeeding videos (get from library, watch on YouTube, etc). It's cheaper and you learn more.

This exactly.

vegasgirl07 · September 2009

it was informational but thats about it. once it gets down to it, all thought processes go out the window and your just begging for it to be over with. there are no breathing techniques in the world that can help during labor!

cranguard · September 2009

Most of the information I had already read about. The one thing that I did like about my childbirth class was the tour of the hospital. It helped put my mind at ease to know where I would be going and what to sort of expect when I got there!

tlynnus · September 2009

Waste of time. We spent waaay too much time going over general anatomy and very little talking about ways to deal with labor. I knew I wanted a natural birth but the instructor seemed to gear the information for those that wanted epidurals. I found that my prenatal yoga class was more helpful for labor.

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