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D.C. Area Babies
Recommend Your Child Birth/Infant CPR Classes
I need to start at least registering for these soon. Back ground: DH works in Bethesda, I work in SS. We live in Rockville. We would prefer something on Saturdays, but could go after work too. As far as birthing classes go, I think I am leaing toward lamaze/Bradley method, but am open to other types of births as long as the teacher isn't too preachy.
Any suggestions? TIA!
Together Together, 9-23-06.
Little Girl is Here!
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Re: Recommend Your Child Birth/Infant CPR Classes
We did HCH and they had a lot of options for different dates/times. I was happy with the class in terms of the information that they provided and the manner in which it was provided. There wasn't really any "preaching" per se. It had more of an informative and educational tone. Also, they explained a lot about the birthing process, your different options for pain management, what partners can do to be supportive, etc. Also, it was somewhat interactive and not boring so we both enjoyed it.
https://www.holycrosshealth.org/classes-events
I've heard that some of the classes fill up months in advance so you may want to sign-up sooner rather than later.
ETA: I got reimbursement for the class from FSA. Just make sure that only your name is on the certificate (not your husband's) and check with your FSA company to see if the class would be covered.
I took the 6 week class at Shady Grove Hospital and thought it was ok. I loved one instructor (Tibbie) but she only taught the weekend classes. The main things I took from the classes were the post-partum care and that DH understood the process of labor (and that it was long). I didn't get or use any real coping techniques (I went natural but credit the tub and midwives with 99% of that).
I wanted to take Bradley or other methods, but as PP mentioned they filled up way early, and because of the holidays we got really stuck and I actually ended up having DS on the day of my last class, whoops.
When I was looking, people recommended Susan Messina and BirthWorks. I wasn't able to try it but a friend of mine just went to her weekend class a few weeks ago and really liked it. She is trying to go natural and found the classes encouraging and thinks she'll actually use some of the techniques.
If you're trying to go natural, I'd try to go with a class that places an emphasis on that so you get more techniques and useful information.
GL!
ETA: I also took the infant safety/CPR classes from Shady Grove Hospital with DH and we both thought they were helpful. I also recommend getting your car seat installation inspected, especially the convertible seats down the road. The infant seat with base was straightforward and we were mostly correct, but the convertible seat was a totally different story - we thought we had it right but there was a lot we missed.
Ditto what others said about Shady Grove classes. I think ours were a good basic introduction into what L&D would be like. If you can get a class with Tibbie, i HIGHLY, highly recommend it. She runs a postpartum group which was nothing short of life-saving for me (it's free and open to anyone who recently had a baby).
The only thing i'd do differently is take the infant CPR class AFTER the baby comes. Now that DD is just starting solids, I want a refresher course since everything goes in her mouth. We took it a couple months before DD came and it seems like a distant memory.