Saying No to Childbirth Class

coryjanine · May 2013

My hospital offers a five week three hour a session class. No thank you. And from what I keep hearing, I will forget everything in the heat if labor and that the nurses will direct me. Call me crazy but my mom, aunts and grandma managed to give birth without a class, I think I can too.

What are your thoughts? BTDT moms? FTMs? I'm curious if I'm the only one who feels this way. Most of my friends think I'm crazy.

[Deleted User] · May 2013

I'm a FTM and I'm not taking one:) I might be crazy, who knows.

Bkuhman · May 2013

Didn't take one with DD and am not taking one now. The nurses will advise you on things you can try. Reading up on it will work as well.

kadymax · May 2013

I'm a first time mom here, we opted out of taking them for that exact reason too, everyone tells me you go in with all the ideas and you don't remember anything once your in the situation!

I am having my mother in there too and she had 3 children so if I need advice I'll ask her

SwetaV · May 2013

FTM here as well and we won't be taking a childbirth class either, you're not alone.

AllMyDucksInARow · May 2013

We did a one day childbirth class and really enjoyed it, but I don't think it's a necessity. You don't have to take a class to be educated. Plus, that baby is going to come out whether you take a class or not, so I say do whatever seems right to you.

YellowLily2013 · May 2013

We are taking one. I think it's great knowledge but since I'm at a birthing center they are focusing a lot of how to manage a natural labor. There have been tips and information that I wouldn't have thought of.

We are also going over potentially problems or issues that may arise. It's really helpful for me to know what the possible modes of action would be for these problems before they just arise.
But I'm a huge planner.

It's great for DH too! I've done a lot of reading and passed some information along. But he's sitting there taking notes and making sure he can be as prepared as possible for me! It's pretty awesome.

BBBelly · May 2013

90% of the reason I signed up was for DH to learn about childbirth cause he knows next to nothing nor will he find out on his own. 5% was in case they had information specific to the hospital which ended up not really being the case. 5% was "just in case" because I don't have friends or family members who have given birth.

For me I didn't really learn anything new but DH certainly did. I wish I could have sent him alone.

cuterusaurus · May 2013

We went to a one day class last weekend and loved it! I might forget everything in the heat of the moment, but it was nice to learn more about what we might expect in our hospital.

bobcee · May 2013

I'd personally recommend taking one the first time around. I think it's good not only for you but for your H/SO who probably won't be reading about all of it as much as you are. I found that it helped my H understand more and be more helpful during the whole process. Plus it wasn't really about learning just strategies for actual labor as much as it was learning about specific policies/practices at your hospital so you can be informed and make decisions based on that whether they align or not, childcare, postpartum care, etc....There's a lot of minute details that people don't really tell you about ahead of time and I felt myself better prepared and less panicked when those things occurred (i.e. my DD having a bit of vaginal bleeding after birth, color and consistency of her poops, etc...) Our nurses were great, but they don't really go over those kinds of things with you when you're in the hospital.

dinomama13 · May 2013

I'm a FTM and a crazy planner. I feel like the more prepared and educated I am about things the better I am able to handle myself through them. I know that no birth is the same and you pretty much just have to take it as it comes but I'm hoping the classes at least help a little bit. I've done some reading here and there but use the books usually just for reference. I get bored reading. I'm more of an audial learner. We are taking a child birthing series one day that lasts 6 hours then a newborn care class. Hoping DH can retain some of what we learn as well to help in whatever ways he can.

Aurora317 · May 2013

Our hospital offers a one day 5 hour "express" class, or a five week class, 2 hours each class. We went with the 5 week class, because cramming all of the info into one day means neither if us will remember anything when we need it.

We both really liked the class, it gave us a lot of insight into the process of labor and delivery at THAT hospital, and completely reinforced my decision to deliver there. We also met a bunch of local couples due around the same time, and after five weeks together we were all comfortable with each other and have plans to meet up after our LOs arrive.

You don't NEED to go to a class, but it was far from a waste if time.

lrichmond86 · May 2013

I'm not taking one. We didn't last time because of the timing of our birth. The nurses and doctors did a great job getting us through and I trust them to do so again.

Edited because my first post was to snarky and wasnt really what i meant. Sorry. I'm grumpy today.

redrocksmama · May 2013

I'm skipping it, mainly for the reasons you've stated above. I will be doing some reading so I'm not going in completely blind. I had a doctor's appointment today and my OB & I were discussing this topic and she said she thought they put women's minds at ease if they had the info, but in no way did she think they were necessary, especially if you plan a hospital/medicated birth.

And like you I was so surprised at how long childbirth classes were. My "Caring for a Newborn" class was 2 hours and I felt like it should have covered more. 15 hours to talk about labor? Shoot me!

see2211 · May 2013

We did the class and while it definitely wasn't necessary, I will say that it gave us a great deal more confidence about the birth. I would recommend getting a tour of the maternity ward... most hospitals do that for free and you will get a lot of good info. It was included in our class and it was the most informative part!

SplashingFishy · May 2013

We did the first time and I'm glad we did. We had a lot of other stuff going on, so it worked well for us to be given the same information so we could talk and discuss more on our own.

This time we're not doing a class. I found my notes from DS's birth so I'll look over that.

Liz4444 · May 2013

We did it with li, aside from the tour of l and d, it was pretty much everything we had already read. I'm glad we did it, but it wasn't totally necessary.

Tammyhull82 · May 2013

i didnt take one ever and i did great with my first .. my second ended in CS but there is nothing that they can teach that you cant read about in birthing books. i think its more the social and bonding with SO .. but i could be wrong.

JUSTMENU4 · May 2013

coryjanine:
My hospital offers a five week three hour a session class. No thank you. And from what I keep hearing, I will forget everything in the heat if labor and that the nurses will direct me. Call me crazy but my mom, aunts and grandma managed to give birth without a class, I think I can too. What are your thoughts? BTDT moms? FTMs? I'm curious if I'm the only one who feels this way. Most of my friends think I'm crazy.

I think it really depends on what type of birth you want & what type of knowledge you hope to obtain. not all classes are equal. I will admit the classes offered at the hospital are very limited. They generally focus on hospital policies & procedures. I did that with my second child & no i don't remember any of it.

For this last child, my husband & I are taking Bradley Method classes. This is much more detailed course & covers more concerns & how to approach those concerns to have the type of birth you want. We are going all natural God willing Smile

The classes can be beneficial to prepare you for some idea of what will happen. Especially for first time mom's. If they are free & you have the time why not. & no one is going to hold a gun to your head & say you have to attend every class. You may even be able to snag some freebies.

I took some classes that were gov't sponsored & received a FREE pack & play, gift card, halo sleeper & few more goodies, just for a few hours of my time. There can be some benefit but nothing is required.

freckledlemonade · May 2013

I'm taking one and honestly feel like it's been pretty useless. We haven't had our breastfeeding part of the class yet. I think if I could do it all over again I'd just sign up for a breastfeeding class. The rest I could've lived without. Waste of $150. Oh well, live and learn.

kathleen02 · May 2013

We took classes with our first that were about that long. It was a great experience. We still meet up with the birth group couples that were in the same class. It was especially nice in the first year since all our little ones were within a month of each other and we were able to give and get tips. Plus the kids like to play with each other now. It's neat that a few of us have had or are expecting two...anyway, the classes were really helpful but they were highly regarding classes and DH learned a lot which helped during the birth.

ETA: I should add that ours was a class not based out of a hospital but with someone else. It was naturally centered but it did go over pain medication and interventions and what to expect. It was good knowing what our options were because it came into play during my son's birth.

coryjanine · May 2013

I did sign up for the 2 hour breastfeeding class and the hospital tour. I am having a medicated, hospital birth, no C-section if I can avoid it. I've actually already paid for my delivery. My hospital offers the childbirth class, breastfeeding class, newborn class, maternity tour, and CPR in different classes. So it is not all included in the childbirth class. My husband and I are cramming in a lot of stuff in the next month and a half between getting our new home ready for us and baby but also still working. So spending 3 hours a night once a week to lay on my yoga mat and pillow (while paying for it!) is something I can do at home and still get the same info. I was just curious on everyone else's opinion. I'm actually feeling better about my decision now. I'm a planner but I also don't like to waste time when I don't have to.

bakerlm · May 2013

My doctor actually told me I didn't need them because I actually read. He told me information is so easy to access these days that they are becoming obsolete. Go ahead and pass on the classes.

boodapug77 · May 2013

I am a FTM. We signed up to do a 2 day class. I went to first class but to be honest it made me more anxious watching the videos. Plus I have preeclampsia and felt like nothing applied to my situation. There was little mention of induction ,c- sections etc. We chose not to go to day 2. We did go to a breastfeeding class and that was very informative.

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