-
eta:
All in all, I had 1 natural birth class + multi evening hospital class (neither of which DH attended because they were offered during the week) + multi Saturday Hypnos birth class + doula. For someone without little baby experience, and not many pregnant or mom IRL friends I probably should have taken more classes on baby care.@periwinklebee: I used “ natural birth, med-free birth, Baby-wear/ing” to find the natural birth workers in my area. FB can also a be a source to find the med-free birth workers in your area.
-
@periwinklebee: I think I found it online just by googling natural childbirth classes. I called a few places and this one seemed to fit our needs best. If you're thinking of trying for med-free, I can't say enough good things about taking a class specific for that. We also hired a doula but she didn't end up being able to attend the birth so it was doubly great that my husband had gone to this class with me. He did a fantastic job helping me the whole time.
-
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: @bushelandapeck: Thank you - good to know re the classes. I might not be able to have an epidural for medical reasons, but won't know until I show up to L&D, so figure I should prepare for that being completely off the table...
-
I only took the birthing class, and it was a complete waste of time for me. I know that you said you may not be able to get an epidural, and that wasn't ever not an option for me, so that's very different. I was of the mindset that I would get an epidural if I needed one, but I wanted to feel what labor was like.
It came fast and furious for me, and I was throwing up from the pain. I have no idea if it was because I can't handle pain like others can, or if it was just too much, but I ended up with an epidural, and then an emergency C-section when I had a fever. Ultimately, the whole birthing class went right out the window.
I think an infant care class would have been far better for me as well as a breastfeeding class. I had DS 5 years ago, and I felt like I knew nothing about breastfeeding and had my mom in my ear telling me that I shouldn't breastfeed. So that would have been really helpful.
-
It was moderately helpful - felt like I already knew everything from research. But EXTREMELY HELPFUL for my husband who knew nothing. Totally worth taking for that reason alone. I think it got him focused and "in the game" of what to expect, what he needed to do, etc.
-
I didn't take any birthing classes because I knew that once I was in labor everything would go out the window. My husband also would not have benefited since he worked as a medic so he was already comfortable with that stuff.
I contemplated taking a breastfeeding class and ultimately didn't. Keep in mind that while you are in the hospital you will (should) have access to lactation consultants and the lactation clinic after you are discharged. In my opinion, learning about breastfeeding is much more helpful once you have the baby and can immediately apply everything they are teaching you.
-
It was really helpful for me, I learned that a heplock was required to be placed upon entry, what the process was, what dilation looked like and most importantly, the little trick that tells you baby is coming in less than 2 minutes (when the midwife turns on the heating lamp). We also covered pain management options, which I thought was really helpful and specific to certain rooms so I knew what to request.
It was spread over 2 days, so not terribly inconvenient.
-
A friend told me it was 2 hours of info crammed into a 8 hour class
I don't do well in situations like that so we didn't go and don't feel like we missed anything
-
@periwinklebee: just finally catching up and seeing this--aren't the illustrations in that book AWESOME? I thought they were so funny. loved how every single man in it has illustrated male pattern baldness. the other gem I remember was the section on how husbands need to take care of themselves and eat sandwiches during your labor etc. Agh so good. And yes great idea to have an LC's number on hand just in case
It seems like there are quite a few bees in your city, maybe someone can recommend one to you!
-
@LCTBQE: Hah hah, I *love* the illustrations too!
-
I was supposed to take an all day 7 hr class on saturday by it was canceled for the second time and the next date is 3 days before my due date and so I will not be attending anything. Do you all have any suggestions for how I should proceed to try and prepare without a class? I'm planning for an epidural and will talk to my doctor about standard after care practices at the hospital so I know what I might be asking for thats not typical.
-
@snarkybiochemist: have you done a hospital tour? We did one and pre-registered. It was helpful for both DH and I to know where we should park, check in, etc. We were able to meet the lactation consultant associated with our peds practice which was helpful too. that stinks your class was canceled again! I didn’t do much reading beforehand so I’m no help there.
-
@jhd: No I haven't had a tour and I think that was what I figured I would find most valuable out of the class. I am looking to see if I can get a tour independently of a class
-
@snarkybiochemist: I would just call the hospital and ask. I think we made a relatively last minute appointment for that. They had us fill in some paperwork and got our insurance info and then a nurse showed us one of the rooms etc. We both found it helpful.
-
We did a private course with a nurse at our hospital. It was great!
-
@cake2017: That sounds awesome!
-
I found them extremely helpful. Not because the information was groundbreaking (like most pregnant women, I did a lot or reading and research). I found it helpful because it helped DH better understand what to expect and how he could support me during birth, while I’m recovering, and while breastfeeding, and so were on the same page re: babycare. I also liked learning about my hospitals rules in detail (re: visitors, epidural, etc).
CPR was also extremely helpful.
I don't do well in situations like that so we didn't go and don't feel like we missed anything
It seems like there are quite a few bees in your city, maybe someone can recommend one to you!
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite1
56 comments