What Birth Class is Right for Me?
Pregnancy, childbirth, new baby, breastfeeding, postpartum recovery…It is all so overwhelming.
Up until now you have been able to navigate your adult life with confidence and ease. The pressure on you that you are feeling about your birth choices can leave one overwhelmed with anxiety!
You are pregnant and a whole new world has opened up to you. So many amazing feelings, ideas, tasks, and choices are ahead of you and it is easy to become overwhelmed. The choices of strollers alone will send you spinning.
Choosing the baby items that will be an integral part of your life for the next year or years is certainly important and families spend many hours on websites researching, reading reviews and testing out products in stores. There are many options for learning more about your choices.
When it comes to your birth women often struggle with finding this information in their community. There are so many classes to choose from. There are so many hospitals, doctors and midwives available, how do you choose the appropriate provider. Who will support you during this amazing time.
The choices that you make in terms of support and education truly set the stage for what your labor and birth choices will be. The problem becomes that many couples don’t even realize that they have choices.
With so many options of pregnancy and birth classes how can you be sure that you are choosing the perfect one? Prior to choosing a birth class you must first decide what type of commitment you would like to make.
What are your options? Workshops, hospital birth classes, private birth classes, wekkend group classes, and multi-week class series are often available. What is the difference between these options and how do you know what will be best for you?
Workshops are offered on a variety of birth and postpartum topics and can be run by childbirth educators, doulas, teachers or community members. Workshops are generally very affordable and take a minimal commitment of time and are usually between 2-5 hours of length. They can be very useful to learn more about a specific topic and can also be used to decide if you are interested in enrolling into a more comprehensive class.
Hospital classes vary greatly from hospital to hospital. Some hospitals offer comprehensive childbirth classes that community instructors teach, while some hospitals offer classes tailored to their specific hospital and teach their hospital protocols. Be aware of what type of class you are enrolling in as some are more biased than others.
Private classes are a great option for so many couples and families. Many childbirth educators are happy to teach privately in your home or in their space. Private classes can often cover the same material that a group class would cover but can be offered with flexible times and often meeting less, but for longer days. Private classes are a it more expensive than group classes, but do save families commuting time and are much more tailored to your needs.
Group classes vary from weekend immersion classes, 3-10 week series classes and are usually very comprehensive. The range of what is taught varies based on the class you enroll in. Many classes have a focus on what to expect in labor, at the hospital, at home, breathing techniques, positions for labor and birth and options that your local hospital will allow. Many birth classes help families prepare a birth preference sheet and gain an understanding of natural labor, birth with an epidural and c-sections. Some popular group classes include Hypnobirth, Lamaze, Birthing From Within, Sacred Pregnancy, Bradley, and Informed Beginnings.
Although making choices for labor, birth, baby and postpartum can be overwhelming, it can also be so empowering. Knowing your options is a fabulous place to start. Good luck
