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We didn't take one, despite trying! The birth class was filled up months in advance, the one hour crash course was cancelled last minute. My yoga teacher did come talk to us and acted out what a contraction looks like. I'm glad we didn't do an in-depth class b/c I ended up needing to have a c-section anyway!

We did take a hospital tour. Biggest help was seeing where we'd check in and seeing the room.

I think it's worth doing, even though I had a c-section. Although my husband turned to me on the second Saturday of the class and said, "so from what I gather, labor is going to go how it's going to go and we kind of just have to let it progress the way it will" we're still glad we went. They showed a video of a c-section in the class, and my husband said had he not seen that, and sort of understood what it would look like from the partner's perspective, he would have felt even more lost and scared than he already did. He was SO glad to have seen it, and I cannot imagine we would have had that information had we skipped it.

I did not care for my instructor so we ended up skipping about half the classes. She was an employee of the hospital but was suggesting epidurals cause autism. Spoiler alert: I was planning on and had one. It rubbed me the wrong way. But the separate hospital tour was great.

I took the one that was led by the midwives at the hospital where I would deliver. It was incredibly helpful because she went over what kind of positions we could leverage and she showed us models of dilation so we could really understand what would be happening.

Funny thing is she also said that you know when the baby is about to be born because the midwife will flip on the baby warming station. It's one of the only things I remember very clearly from the birth of my son. I saw the midwife turn on the light and I said to my husband that we were really close and both midwives started laughing.

@agold: yes I would still take a tour. The nurses go over the rules, what supplies are available and what you should bring. And it's good for DH to hear it all. They also showed us how to adjust the bed which helped a lot.

We took one, but I was scheduled for a c-section, so most of the class wasn't very useful to me. The tour was the most valuable part for us. If we could go back, we'd skip it.

I took the hospital class that sounds similar to yours and an additional Saturday class that was focused more on med-free pain management. I'm glad I took both. Honestly, there wasn't a ton of information that I gathered from the classes that I didn't already know from reading online. But it gave me confidence and, most importantly, it helped to prepare my husband. I could send him links and books all day and he wouldn't really read or retain any of it. But the classes forced him to sit and listen and learn and that was REALLY valuable so that he could be helpful during the labor.

I did a one day Saturday class when pregnant with my first and it was a total waste of time. I had done all my research, read my pregnancy books, and spent loads of time reading info about giving birth and caring for a newborn, so there was not one single thing new that I learned during the six hour class.

As for whether it's worthwhile for you, it depends if you're someone who does lots of independent research and reading on the subject, or if you'd like the info presented to you. Also, my DH is happy to defer to me as the 'expert' and would listen (with a limited attention span eventually!) to the info I would share with him so he didn't get anything out of the class either as he'd already heard it all from me!

I didn't take one. With my first, I had one scheduled, but then ended up on bedrest so never took one. I was expected to have a small baby and planned on an epidural so it really wasn't a big deal.

With my second....I'd already had a baby and so I didn't feel the need to have classes

I don't regret taking the class (we did a Saturday class), but the hospital tour + pre-check in paperwork and a short class given by our peds office were much more helpful. My birth class instructor barely spent any time on breathing exercises, pain management, etc which was what I was hoping to learn about.

I took an 'Expecting multiples' class and it was very helpful.

@agold: the tour was also good for going over how the monitoring devices work, how far they reach (wired could reach to the bed, or you could sit on a rocker or yoga ball next to the machine). Wireless can go in the tub but you can't deliver in the tub.

I didn't take a childbirth class but I did go on a hospital tour so I could see the rooms and know what to expect. I also took a breastfeeding class that was invaluable. I prepared for my medfree vaginal birth by watching one million birth videos and reading The Birth Partner with DH. Good luck!

@agold: hey lady, what did you end up deciding on this? I'm in a similar boat trying to figure out whether to take a class from a doula that was recommended to me (30% for my benefit, 70% for a reality-check for my husband) or whether i'm just going to watch an online seminar. I really want the epidural, so leaning towards the latter. But like you said, I love information. hmm... let me know what you're doing?