INOVA birthing classes

Re: INOVA birthing classes

• Artslvr

  October 2011

  We took the child birth express one I think.  It was one or two long days rather than going somewhere once a week for several weeks.  I thought it was totally worth it though I don't have anything to compare it to.  From what I remember they covered labor and delivery, but also baby care - like how often you bathe baby, how to swaddle baby - stuff like that.  Stuff that DH and I had no clue about (I did babysit when I was a teen, but not for newborns, so I was grateful for the basics!)

  Wife, Musician, Fed, WW-er, and Mom of three little kids - not necessarily in that order.

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• Boom Boom

  October 2011

  With our first we took the baby care, c-section and breastfeeding classes.  The baby care class was so valuable.  I wouldn't have had a clue what to do with DD when I got home if I hadn't taken it!  C-section class just scared me, and it was kind of boring, but it was still good info.  I thought the breastfeeding class was awful.  I don't know if it was the instructor or the material, but it was extremely long and stuff wasn't getting covered.  She spent the whole first half with info we all know, like "this is your nipple", it was really boring and I didn't learn anything from it.  I was at Inova Loudoun and IMHO, the nurses at the hospital are your best resource for breastfeeding.  They really want you to succeed at it and they literally latch the baby on for you and show you everything you need to know.  

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• mommmyz

  October 2011

  We did a bunch: Childbirth Express (the one day), Breastfeeding, Baby Care, and Infant First Aid/CPR. We did all of them at INOVA Fair Oaks.

   I'm glad we did the childbirth one, but it wasn't amazing or anything. Same with breastfeeding, I actually knew everything she said already from this board and just some reading! Infant first aid/cpr was good - lots of things to look for in your house, and brief "what to do" in certain sceinarios. My parents did that one with us which was great because they watch DS all the time and I was glad they heard all the up to date recs from a good source. You do not get CPR certified, just the basics.

  Anyway, Baby Care, like everyone said, was BY FAR the best. I babysat as a teenager, but had no idea how to give a newborn a bath! DH had never changed a diaper, etc...he came away feeling much better about everything and we definitely looked back at some of their instruction sheets once DS was here!

  

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• kbalb

  October 2011

  We did the childbirth class, which was great.  I think they told us to go in our third trimester.  We finished the class two weeks before I was due.  I thought it was awesome (it was at Fairfax) and part of that may have been that our instructor was in her second trimester (2nd pregnancy), so it may have been partially that she was excited about everything along with us.

  I also did the breastfeeding class and thought it wasn't very good.  I was fairly bored, it was the instructor's first class, and I think it was a bit too large to get the help I needed.

   

  

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