I'm looking for a little advice from all you pros out there. I am debating the pros and cons of taking an official childbirth class or not. And I'd like your feedback.
So, if you took a class tell me more about your experience. What was helpful? What did you learn? Would you recommend it? Etc.
For those of you that may have passed on taking an official class, I'm also curious about your experiences. What did you do to prepare for birth? What would you recommend? Etc.
I'm also looking for some good advice coming from the male perspective as well.
Thanks for playin'!
15 comments:
I didn't take one before I gave birth to Mallory and I wish I would have. I had no idea what to expect and was scared the whole time. When I was preparing to have Piper I took a Hypnobirthing class and it help immensely. I didn't go natural but it help me learn to breath so I could relax and enjoy the experience. John recommends that Jacob should cut the cord. It is really cool.
I took a class--31 or so years ago. I was happy to be a little more prepared. Today you can read up on it, so maybe it isn't really important. I realize my experience isn't quite relevant, but I wanted to participate. Aunt Lynda
We went to a class with Timothy. The class was a little helpful. It was run by the hospital Marydalene was going to deliver at, so the tour was very nice. It was helpful to have an idea where to go when the time came. They also reminded us in the class that we needed to select a pediatrician before the baby was born. Duh, we just hadn't thought of it. Other than that, all of the information was basically a repeat of what we had read. So, if the hospital you will be delivering at offers classes, and they are not terribly expensive, go for it?
my humble opinion is this:
if you are going to get epidural you don't need to take the "official childbirth class", but if you are planning on not getting an epidural, then you pretty MUCH WANT to spend the money and take the class.
I still went and did the tour of the hospital and learned about their policies and procedures and THAT was very helpful to me (us).
I did not take a class and have not felt that I missed out on anything. I felt like I knew a lot about the birth process because I read a lot and watched a lot of "Birth Day" and other such shows. I agree with Lilit that if you are having an epidural you probably don't need a class but if you think you might want to go natural I would think you would want to take a class that would teach you ways to deal with the pain. I did tour the labor/delivery area of the hospitals where I delivered and I liked that because then I knew where to go and stuff like that.
I (we) didn't take a class b/c the only Saturday class was after Ansley was due- super lame- and we didn't want to commit six or eight LOST nights to going. Ha ha ha. It was also more money than I thought it should be (yes, I know they have to get paid, etc but our budget is always tight). We toured the hospital (free, took like fifteen minutes, no apt necessary) and picked our pediatrician while in the hospital (probably should've done that earlier but there aren't many options here so it didn't really matter). I did a lot of reading online, which was helpful. I think it's important to have a birth plan but know that it might not be safe/practical to follow your birth plan. The only thing I didn't know about was that my nurse would ask me to breathe differently than I expected (there are a few different ways). I didn't like it but was too tired to argue. Ha ha. I also didn't know my doctor was so particular about delivering in a certain position but that didn't really matter.
Congratulations on the upcoming arrival to your family! We took a child birth class before Miriam. We tried to find a free one, but couldn't so we paid to go. I was very naive about pregnancy and childbirth so I did find it helpful. Spencer thought it was a waste because he already knew everything (ha) but he was not the one giving birth. If you plan to hold out as long as you can for a natural birth there are good tips. Get a tour of the birthing unit. Oh, and read up about at home births the week before just in case. ;)
Trevor and I went to one and didn't learn a thing--at least not more than what I had already read about. We did make fun of the people practicing the breathing techniques with gusto, though, so that was entertaining. I did have epidurals, too. If I were planning a birth with no epidural I might take it a little more seriously.
No class, but I read a lot ie: What to Expect type stuff. I found while in the midst that your body knows what to do even if your head doesn't. And thank goodness the nurses really do. They were great. I am not one for pain, so I really recommend an epidural with the caveat that you get a very experienced anesthesiologist to do it. NO RESIDENTS. You DO NOT want to be numb on one side.
Our hospital offered a "crash course" child birth class that you could take in one Saturday. It took most of the day and covered just about anything that was important and we were able to preregister at the hospital while we were there and get a tour of L&D(I took it when I was around 34-35 weeks)--so that alone made it worth it. I wouldn't have taken one of the child birth classes that meets weekly for several weeks--too time consuming. I am glad we took the short class thought, not so much for my sake as for Cameron's. He knew nothing and I think having a point of reference during my delivery was helpful for him--especially because we had to use some of the equipment that they showed us during the class (forceps, monitoring devices, etc.) so it was nice to have a point of reference.
That said, if all your hospital offers is the prolonged, multi-week class, I'd probably just skip it.
That's my 2 cents.
Jason and I did take a course when I was pregnant with Jeremiah. I think it was fine, but not really necessary. Like everyone above says, the tour is good, and there were probably a few things they talked about that I didn't know. That being said, it was good for Jason who would not be the type to read up on that stuff. When I had Katie and had her naturally I used none of the breathing things. Didn't notice them really helping...my mind over matter (PAIN) is poor, and mostly I just took the advice of my friend who had her babies at home and changed postitions/activities frequently to help with the pain.
I think it depends on the class, and what kind of birth you are wanting. I've heard that if you have an epidural that birthing classes aren't really needed, but I still think it's nice to know what's gonna happen, etc. Touring where you are going to give birth is something I think everyone should do. We were able to ask questions and see the rooms, etc. If you really want a natural birth I highly recommend taking a good quality class, which means paying some money for it. That was extremely important to me so I found a Hypnobabies class. I think it was about 5 weeks, but it was great. It wasn't just for birthing, it was for pregnancy, birth, and after baby comes. I am very into natural stuff and my instructor taught like that so if you are skeptical, I'd do a hypnobirthing class. I could go on forever about how much I loved my class but I would take up a lot of space. Let me know if you are interested at all and I'll tell you more. Good luck! So many decisions to make!
We took the free hospital tour, which we were glad about, but did not pay to take the real childbirth class. I don't feel I missed out on anything, but I had been to two of my friend Jenn's deliveries, so I was pretty aware of what would go down. Warning - I didn't think to make sure AJ was as aware, and I later found out he was a little shocked/surprised by a few things. (Like how discolored and misshapen babies look immediately after delivery.) I wish I had thought to see what he knew, so he would have been less stressed.
I also read a ton of books on the history of childbirth. Don't do that unless you want to be sick and hate the entire medical profession until the information fades. AJ was so mad that I kept checking more out of the library; it was a weird compulsion.
Thanks for posting about this. Now I won't have to. I've appreciated reading all the advice you've received.
I never had the chance to take one because of scheduling issues. I wanted to but at the same time, I heard it didn't help at all, so hmm. I took the child care class, but not the birthing one and everything went just fine. They talk you through everything either way.
Post a Comment