First time parents, birthing classes?

anvloveskme · January 2010

What did you sign up for, which ones did you like, etc.??? Recommendations? Info about us, I am 30, DH is 37, I am afraid to do natural and want meds

) Thanks!

Deltadawn8 · January 2010

We didn't do actual classes with DD. Our schedules and the class schedules did not match up. We instead bought a DVD and were able to watch it at home. Thebestbirth.com It's based on the McMoyler Method. DH and I really enjoyed it and were able to watch it on our own schedule at home. It's about a 3hr DVD and it comes with a workbook that goes along with the class. It was a great birthing class for us, and the techniques in it helped me during labor. I also was not going to go with out drugs- I had an epidural, and the breathing in the dvd helped me until I was able to get one.

HTH.

ChrisnTris · January 2010

https://babyloveworkshop.com/

we loved this! Same cost as the clinic or hospital run classes, but with only 4 couples! I am a maternity nurse so we mostly went for DH and for the experience, it was so great!

LisiLynn · January 2010

I recommend taking a more comprehensive class to deal with the pain and holding off on your epidural as long as possible. I think I got mine way too soon as I didn't expect to be in labor for so long and it totally slowed things down. I'm all for pain managment but it doesn't always work as well for everyone. Mine only worked on half of my body at a time (I kept having to lie on one side, then the other) not to mention it wore off before I actually gave birth and the anestesiologist was in surgery and unavailable until it was too late for me to get another.

joleine · February 2010

The class that we took through St. Vincents was great.. it was 4 weeks long (1 night a week, 2 hrs each class) and very informative. They focused mostly on ways to cope with the pain without medication (but did explain things to do w/ an epidural) and also taught us exercises we can do at home before hand to make labor easier. She also explained the anatomy of it all and showed us all of the items that can be used during birth (stuff like the hook they use to break your water, the forceps, vacuum extractor, etc..) .. She went into great detail all that included from start to finish for having a hospital birth.

We also watched a 3 videos, a completely drug free birth, an epidural-birth and a c-section.

That being said, the information we gained during this class helped us decide that we are for sure going natural and want to avoid an epidural. But everyone will get something different out of each class and everyone will have a different birthing experience

jlhodges · February 2010

I am signed up to do the one at St. Vincent's as well. I am doing the weekend course though which is supposed to combine the four weeks into 2 days (easier for DH to make). We're not going until the last weekend in April though, so I dunno how it is yet

peachypear · February 2010

DH and I enjoyed the Birth A-Z course at OHSU. It's focused on information, not pushing for natural or medicated, etc. It did a good job of describing birth and how the stages feel (in a way that I found more accessible than the books we had been reading), when to come to the hospital, and what the experience at the hospital will be like (we passed around the different apparatus that could be used, took a tour or the room, etc). There were optional birth videos that weren't scary at all. We felt very ready and comfortable afterward. It was a very balance class, I thought. Most people were delivering at OHSU, but there were couples delivering elsewhere.

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First time parents, birthing classes?

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