My hospital offers several classes (optional, and you have to pay a small fee.)
I am considering taking the childbirth, child care, and breastfeeding classes.
Have any of you taken any classes yet? Were they worth it? My husband thinks it will be a waste of time, but he is willing to go since I asked him to.
Also, how early are you taking these? My hostpital does them about once a month, but oddly has none in Februray. I don't want to wait til march, so it's either take them all within a 2 week span in January, or split them up between Jan and December. I'm just wondering if December is way too early...
Thanks!
Re: classes?
As for when to take them.. I would say anytime. I don't think December is too early.
With DS, we took the childbirth class and the infant care class, and I thought they were both a waste of time, but it depends on the person. If you have read some books or information on the internet, you probably already know more than you'll learn in those classes. There were some really clueless people there though, so for them I think it was beneficial (i.e. a woman who was in her 9th month asked what an epidural was).
The only part that was nice was the tour of the L&D wing, but most hospitals offer that tour for free separate from the classes, so you could save the time and money and tour L&D separately. Our class offered a brief overview of breathing exercises, but I think if you're planning a natural birth you would be better off in a specialized class, like a Bradley method class.
In December we're taking baby care basic, breastfeeding and doing a labor and delivery tour.
Jan 31 we start 4 weeks of lamaze.
All at Kaiser.
Adam & Shoshie 10-21-07: "My family is big and loud and everybody's in each other's lives and business. ... but wherever I go, they will always be there." * My Blog: Tales of a Hopeful Jewish Mom to Be *
I really don't need one since I have assisted in teaching them but I thought that it might be helpful for DH. His sister is also pregnant. She took one with her DH and it really freaked her out. She is much more stressed out about the baby and about childbirth than she was before the class. After she taked to DH about it, he started to get freaked out when he was not before. Now I don't think that a class will be a good idea for him. I think that it will hurt more than it will help. We are going to watch some videos and I am going to talk him through what I want.
My nurse friends have done the same thing and it worked for them. I have been told to prepare for this baby to come anytime now so I would say that December is not too early.
I have asked about this too.
I have decided to take a preparing for childbirth class and a breastfeeding class. The childbirth class is all day on Saturday and the breastfeeding class is one evening during the week. I am taking both in January. I don't want to wait until February since I am due in early March.
I prefer classes over just reading stuff online. It helps me and guides me towards what I want to read about more specifically on my own.