Childbirth / bf / newborn Classes

glitterfish-2 · January 2017

I don't think we've had this thread yet?

Is anyone planning to take any of these classes? Which? When? Where?

tripledaggerWed95976 · January 2017

even though I'm a STM, I will be taking birthing classes this time around. I mentioned in a different thread that when I had my son I ended up with a very bad tear. This time around im going to do everything I can to try to avoid tearing.
I will probably start classes 3 months prior to my DD (my son was born 1 month premature, so I want to start early just in case).
I haven't decided where yet, I'm going to ask my OB for a recommendation.

JAM85 · January 2017

If I can get to week 30 with baby not in breech (DD was breech from 25 weeks on) then I will start reading up on the Bradley Method in preparation for a VBAC if I am able to. BF I will just dig my books and and remind myself how difficult their first 2 weeks are and this time I will get an antibiotic RX for mastitis to have on hand as I got it twice last time. I BF until 23 months (she was enthusiastic) so that only ended 8 months ago.

kat0607 · January 2017

I'm definitely planning on taking all of these with my DH! The hospital gave us a pamphlet of classes offered but I don't have it on hand right now, so I forget everything that's on it. Anyway, as a FTM I definitely want to take a childbirth class, and I am interested in the Bradley Method as well. Assuming I am able to breastfeed, I'm planning on taking a class for that also, as well as a newborn care and first aid/CPR class.

Dcwtada · January 2017

We took one with my first, there was not much we learned (I think I learned the three stages of labor) but it was taught by our hospital and gave us a familiarity with the L&D department, layout and nurses - but you can get most of that from a tour of the hospital. Bring your nurses some treats when you go into the hospital - I cannot tell you how much easier and nicer your stay will be - nurses are great and if you show them appreciation they will go even more out of your way to be amazing (including creating blow up balloons from hospital gloves to keep your 8 year old entertained while you are waiting to be discharged).

oheliza44 · January 2017

I am signing DH and I up for a birthing class and a parenting class at the hospital where I'll be delivering. I am very type A, so the birthing class is appealing to me to help me understand the birth process, make a birth plan (to the degree you can with these things), and know what to expect. Also we get a tour of the facility.

We are going to do the parenting class because I have no clue how to do even basic baby related things. DH and I tagged teamed our first diaper change recently so that should give you an idea about how completely clueless we are. DH didn't even know that newborns couldn't hold their heads up so he thought he "broke" his friend's newborn when we went over to meet the baby.

This will definitely be an adventure for us, to say the least.

Edit for grammar because it is the first day back at work and evidently I can't construct a sentence.

ThePecks · January 2017

Still debating - the hospital offers classes, for a fee. Probably should just because I've never done them before and never really taken care of a newborn. Plenty of reading will be done as well.

glitterfish-2 · January 2017

My hospital does offer a childbirth class, but like @oheliza44 I think we need a bit more help, especially in the after birth department!

A local baby store offers a 3 class series: Birth, breastfeeding, and newborn care, but it's only offered at weird times relative to my EDD (7/3) - the two options are in February or June! I don't think I should start so soon (18 weeks) or wait until the very last minute either!

Would June be ok or would you keep looking?

Hdhtk4 · January 2017

@GlitterFish I would try to find classes a little earlier than June. You never know if you will go into labor early. In my first pregnancy, I was preparing to take a birthing class 3 weeks before my due date, but never got to attend because my water broke almost a month early!

I will not be taking any classes this time just because I feel I know what to expect as a STM, but desperately wish I would have taken breastfeeding classes the first time around. Breastfeeding was SO difficult and stressful for the first two months. Even though I had read a ton about it, I soon realized I wasn't prepared when DD actually arrived.

shanana_3 · January 2017

I'm a STM and I received great help from a lactation consultant with my DD. I would strongly recommend one if anyone has challenges breastfeeding, she was amazing and helped me move from formula and bf to bf only. This time around I wanted to do birthing classes. I was one of the lucky ones where the epidural didn't work and tore horribly. I'm hoping I can have a smoother birth experience, the last time was a nightmare. I was thinking about a doula but they are a lot of money. Funny this post was started, I was just looking at classes yesterday.

OperaSingerMommy · January 2017

STM and taking a Bradley-inspired 10 week course later this spring. Last time, all I did was the hospital classes and I felt like those were helpful but they yeah you more about what to expect from that specific hospital rather than what to except from your body.

morgarita · January 2017

I took childbirth, breastfeeding, and newborn classes with our first. I didn't find them useful even tho I probably did take something out of it. I'm not a ask a lot of questions person or a lecture read a book person. I'm more of a hands-on, lets do this. This time I am reading and listening to hypnobirthing, can't comment more because I'm still looking for an author that suits my needs.

mrscate88 · January 2017

STM and passed on the classes for round one, had a great experience all around, and won't be doing classes this time either. I'm just independent and wanted to handle everything on my own, my husband literally slept all night in my hospital room while I labored and I didn't even care. I did have amazing hospital LCs though and they gave me priceless BFing tips that totally saved me those first two weeks at home.

dancegurl1118 · January 2017

DH and I took a 6 week class. I wanted him to become familiar with birth and not just assume that I didn't need his help because I understood the process well and had my coworkers with me.

He said it really made everything more real for him and it helped him stay calm during the whole process because he was familiar with what to expect.

I cannot recommend taking birthing classes enough for FTM. Sometimes my patients tell me they were too anxious and a class would've just made them more anxious and I find that makes it 1000x worse in labor. Sure, you know labor is going to be painful and suck, but if you learn about the whole process and physiology, as well as some different coping mechanisms, it really helps the fear aspect.

Labor and birth is scary. It's scary not to know what to expect. It's scary to know that there will be pain but you don't know exactly what pain. It's scary to know you can't control it. But if you use all this time to educate yourself and your partner, you can go into labor like a badass and say I GOT THIS!!!!

tripledaggerWed95976 · January 2017

I wanted to add that the first time around I took a childcare class through the hospital I delivered with and I really did not find it helpful at all.
Also, I did not take a BF class. I'm really glad I didn't because the hospital I delivered with are HUGE Breastfeeding advocates, so the lactation consultant was seriously in my room every hour or two checking to see if I needed help.

Katie______ · January 2017

So someone suggested I ask my husband how much experience he's had with babies. I was a nanny so I've had more--granted it's old. It was a good talk and he hasn't much.....so we're doing 4 classes with the hospital. they have an accelerated class, but we're doing the slow versions: a newborn class, breastfeeding, infant CPR (must be its own class), and then one on labor I think....I forget that one. They're all on the weekend. And then we have the hospital tour. We're also home shopping, so we're taking a class at home depot on ceiling fan installs (it supposedly helps with not having SIDS). Are there books you're reading too-- besides what to expect when you're expecting?

Katie______ · January 2017

Hi All--- didn't we have a list of apps or books going somewhere a long long time ago? I tried to find it but I couldn't.

chiquita928 · January 2017

I've mentioned before that I was uncharacteristically easy-going during my first pregnancy (I'm normal ridiculously type A). There weren't any classes around that I knew of, so we didn't take any. I had never changed a diaper, didn't know the first thing about babies, and had no "coping" mechanism for labor. I just assumed that I would figure it out, and I would ask people or look things up when I needed to. Surprisingly, it all went fine. The nurses in Mother Baby were amazing, and showed me how to change a diaper, give him a bath, care for his umbilical cord and penis, and how often to breastfeed. The lactation consultant in the hospital was pretty good, but she definitely made me more stressed out about non-issues than I needed. I don't plan on taking any classes this time either. Looking back, it's some sort of miracle that I had such a smooth and easy birthing process, and that the newborn stage was not so bad, considering how little I knew...lol.

yellow1daisy · January 2017

We wanted to take classes the last time and life just got hectic crazy and my daughter came early so we never got to.

She ended up in the nicu and while that was a stressful experience the nicu nurses were lifesavers! They taught us all the baby care. Helped with getting me LCs. I feel I know a lot more about BF this time and hoping to have an easier go of it this time (it was NOT easy the last time---milk didn't come in until day 7 and with a special care severely jaundiced baby and I ended up having to supplement and then battled supply issues for months----lord I hope I don't get it as bad this time).

Being STM parents I'm going to hope we just know what to do this time. But I did hold a newborn the other day and was reminded how tiny and fragile they are in the beginning--and just how rusty I am!

oheliza44 · January 2017

dancegurl1118 said:

...labor like a badass and say I GOT THIS!!!!

I think I am adopting this a my birthing mantra. LOL

julybaby17-2 · January 2017

It's funny to see this thread! I was just looking into this. I think I want to go the natural route and am planning on Hypno Birth. I found an online class that might work, since the in-person times don't work for my scedule.

I NEED to plan, and the birth part scares me. I'm hoping Hypno Birth will take some of the fear away. I already do yoga, so it kind of fits my personality anyway

My biggest fear is an emergency CS, which is the main reason I want a natural birth. I realize I can only control so much, but I'm such a control freak!

Does anyone have experience with Hypno Birth? Did you work well for you?

morgarita · January 2017

@JulyBaby17 you will have to tell me which hypnobirthing book you're using and how you like it? I don't know the wording but I've noticed a lot of different book authors(?). I'm trying to find mantras that fits with my personal preferences.

I'm not a class person I like to do things my own way since I know what works for me. I've joined some Facebook groups but it's ALOT of success stories which makes me weary. But you are right it is suppose to take some fear out of it.

caribbeanmama-2 · January 2017

I kind of remember there being a thread about this really early on- but I can't find it. I posted the following on the June board (I'm due June 30 according to latest NT scan.):

I took all the classes. Not mentioning the redundant ones.

The breastfeeding class wasn't really helpful - reading the womanly art of breastfeeding is the way to really prepare. I saw two LCs in the hospital - they weren't that helpful and didn't really pay attention. I had nursing problems and my doula helped in the first week - including taking my boob and showing me how to massage for the milk to come in and shoving it in DS mouth to demonstrate the proper latch, as well as noting that he had a lip and tongue tie which I did not correct (milk was slow to come in and baby lost a little weight - totally normal btw! - she was encouraging through that period and reassuring.)

The infant cpr and first aid class helped build my confidence about bringing the tiny human home - I'm kind of a safety nut though and just would not be comfortable winging it or googling in the instant of an emergency.

I really wanted a natural/low intervention birth so we took the 6 week labor and birth class from a natural childbirth center taught by doulas and CNM - this was the most informative in terms of understanding what hospitals do and how to manage the staff to have the birth you want. It was very helpful to learn about the interventions and research them properly beforehand. I would not have been capable of making an informed decision if I were confronted with the options for the first time during labor. We also hired a doula (I posted a lot about this earlier in a different thread).

I took the hospital's labor and delivery class - this was helpful to learn about the procedures specific to the hospital where I would deliver beforehand. For example, if you decline a certain procedure do you have to just sign a waiver or will they do a spinal tap on the baby when he is born and keep you for 48 hours versus 24 hours after birth. The hospital is a well-oiled machine with many experienced professionals following procedures. It is not easy to opt out.

I liked the newborn childcare class. Even though I was comfortable around babies before I had my son, I didn't know for example about all the weird skin things on brand new infants. So it was great to see lots of real pictures about what's normal and what's not. I would have been googling like crazy for baby's first month because he had all the skin stuff!

i just wanted to mention that the 'need' for preparation will totally depend on the labor you get and the baby you get. You can't control either! So if you are lucky enough to have a smooth labor - that doesn't mean you didn't need the preparation - you were lucky and that's great! If you get an easy baby that latches immediately - you are lucky and that's great! That's the way it should be! But what if you aren't in the 85% - you bet you're ass you are going to be happy that you had a bit of prep in terms of knowing what labor entails, what to do if nursing isn't going well, what's normal and not normal in newborns, and what to do to calm a super fussy baby. Also, if you have a wide network of women in your corner - you essentially will have the collective wisdom on your side. So it may not be clear from some posts who 'didn't need the classes' but really had mom, grandma, and sister in the nest, which makes a big difference!

Sorry, I wrote an entire book here - I hope it's helpful to others lol.

LoveLee85 · January 2017

I didn't take any and won't this time around either. Might refresh on infant/toddler cpr though!

Mrs.EmmaLouise · January 2017

We took a birthing class offered at our hospital, and a breastfeeding class. Both were helpful, and glad we took them. DH also took an infant/child CPR class (I'm certified for work).

My doc asked me if I was planning on pain management or not, and when I said I thought I'd go epidural free this time, he said he asks all his moms to take a class for that because "it's not just something you decide". I thought that was a bit weird, since I'm a STM. I think I'll just do the hospital tour and call it a day.

alcrimmins · January 2017

We took birthing and newborn care classes at our hospital and both were a waste of time for us. I was really hoping that they would be helpful but the instructor was awful. I think had we had a different, more experienced, instructor we would have enjoyed it more. I don't really think passing around the tool that is used to circumcise boys was helpful. With that being said, dh and I are both pretty laid back people and we used the go with the flow attitude while in labor and it worked perfectly for us. Lots of laughs with the midwife.

Cejiml · January 2017

I took them with my first and found them super informative. WIth my second we did a little big sibling class that was so cute and helped her see the hospital room and nursery. She was 3. Not doing anything this time. My Ds will be 18mo so too young to do a sibling class.

stokesm21 · January 2017

I'm struggling with this one. My sister said she didn't learn anything but my parents said it was really informative. Mind you their's was 30 years ago! I'm not a clueless FTM. I have a niece and nephew and ALL my friends have kids. I've been around a ton of newborns but I'm still struggling with whether to take the classes. My Mom says since I'm the type of person that needs "all the information" she thinks it would be good for me. Surprisingly, baby is the one thing I'm really not type A about! Baby is going to do what baby is going to do and there ain't nothing I can do to control that haha! I'm very 'no birth plan' surprisingly. I might get drugs, I might not, who knows. I could use a little more info on c-sections though because they freak me out.

*sigh* Decisions, decisions!

caribbeanmama-2 · January 2017

stokesm21 said:

I'm struggling with this one. My sister said she didn't learn anything but my parents said it was really informative. Mind you their's was 30 years ago! I'm not a clueless FTM. I have a niece and nephew and ALL my friends have kids. I've been around a ton of newborns but I'm still struggling with whether to take the classes. My Mom says since I'm the type of person that needs "all the information" she thinks it would be good for me. Surprisingly, baby is the one thing I'm really not type A about! Baby is going to do what baby is going to do and there ain't nothing I can do to control that haha! I'm very 'no birth plan' surprisingly. I might get drugs, I might not, who knows. I could use a little more info on c-sections though because they freak me out.

*sigh* Decisions, decisions!

I'm with your mom - if you are the sort of person that needs all the information - then you have nothing to lose by taking a class. You aren't committing to a particular method just because you go. I would think the objective is to know more about the process and your options. If you don't learn anything new, then that's that.

glitterfish-2 · January 2017

My thing is that I'm not good about reading stuff - at least stuff that is not right here on TB or in a short article. So I came up with this schedule at the baby store I'm so glad I just discovered right in my 'hood!
EDD is 7/3

Birth Prep 101 - April 1 6 hrs
Breastfeeding Essentials - April 15 or May 19 2 hrs
Comfort Measures (I think this is unmedicated pain management) - March 11 (too early I think) or June 10 (will check refund policy) 2 hrs
Newborn Care - March 28 2 hrs
"4th Trimester" - May 11 2 hrs

Yikes! Plus I wanted to do the 6 week class from the OB/Hospital!

OperaSingerMommy · January 2017

@GlitterFish That sounds like you've got everything covered! I took similar classes last time but I definitely want more "comfort measures" this time, lol. That's something I was clueless about before.

tuxielove93 · January 2017

Sorry to rebump this, but I'm desperately trying to find anything online, from prenatal exercise classes to childbirth classes, and I can't find a thing. For that matter, the stores here don't carry maternity clothes either. I'm not in a super big city, but this is not a small middle of nowhere town by any means either. Are there specific organizations I should be looking for that just aren't showing up in my google search? Am I doing something wrong here??

glitterfish-2 · January 2017

The ones I'm taking are through an independent maternity/baby store. I actually found it (even though its next to my favorite chinese restaurant, but I never thought of them having anything besides overpriced baby clothes) because I was looking for a babywearing group.

satsumasandlemons · January 2017

The hospital I delivered at have birthing, bf'ing, infantcare, etc. dh and I took the infantcare and birthing classes - I don't think I had ever changed a diaper until DD!! I found a local mom/baby shop that offered tons of classes and lactation services - in LA and it's called pump station if you're curious to check out their site and see just what they offer (as an example of a specialty store that caters to moms).
we both took infant cpr classes there and This place was an amazing resource for breastfeeding - I not only had a great experience with the lactation consultant there, but they have weekly bf'ing group/workshops. It was so helpful to commiserate with other women, lol.

This is time around we're taking another infant cpr class and I'll probably joint another bf'ing support group just in case.

manillabar · January 2017

I recently learned that Babies 'R' Us has free classes about caring for newborns, labor, breastfeeding, etc, so H and I have been looking into those. Our hospital has some as well, though I think those are offered a little later. I have to dig out the info my doc gave me on my first visit about those. I have had a lot of "baby" exposure between work and my several nieces and nephews but H has no babies in his family so I know he will feel more comfortable going to these classes. Plus I am by no means a "know-it-all" and I'll take all the tips I can get!

tuxielove93 · January 2017

@manillabar Thank you! My Babies R Us actually does have some classes. You have no idea how much better you just made me feel.

caribbeanmama-2 · January 2017

@kerils I live in a smaller town and the midwife at the hospital was able to give me names of local places that had labor classes when I was pregnant with my son. Most of the classes I took were through the hospital itself except the labor class. Also if you are googling, you may want to specify the method you are interested in to see if something pops up near you like the Bradley method. You could also look for a local doula group and ask if they know where classes are
offered.

manillabar · January 2017

@kerils glad I could help! My friend told me about them the other day and I honestly wouldn't have even thought to check it out otherwise so I figured I'd share

glitterfish-2 · February 2017

Bump
@cielaw89

cielaw89 · February 2017

@GlitterFish thank you!!

glad to see see this thread here. I have no clue when or where to even start looking for classes. The only class I seem to find through Kaiser is breast feeding, but since I now know Babies R Us has classes, I may start looking there!

WeddingNotes13 · February 2017

@cielaw89 If you have any interest in breastfeeding, you might try joining a little local FB breastfeeding group. They welcome moms-to-be and provide access to local people that have recently done this. I was not aware of this resource until after having LO. Moms in ours often give advice on pediatricians, OBs, doulas, and classes.

*Edited for punctuation. Auto spell loves apostrophies tonight.

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