Pregnancy, childbirth, new baby, breastfeeding, postpartum recovery…it can all be so overwhelming!
Up until now you have been able to navigate your adult life with confidence and ease. The pressure 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, people 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 is that many families don’t even realize that they have choices.
With so many options for 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. Do you have the time for an in-person class? Or would you prefer the flexibility a virtual online class may offer?
Here are some options:
In-person workshops are offered for a variety of birth and postpartum topics and can be run by childbirth educators, doulas, teachers or community members. Workshops are generally very affordable, 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.
Group classes vary from weekend immersion classes to 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.
Online virtual classes are a great option if you have very limited time and would prefer to learn at a flexible pace. Birth & Baby University offers two childbirth prep classes: Intro to Childbirth and Preparing For Your Hospital Birth. If you know that you will be delivering in a hospital, we do recommend taking Preparing For Your Hospital Birth- this class is different than most hospital prep classes because it will teach you about ALL of the available options you will have in a hospital setting, without a biased agenda a hospital class may have. Intro to Childbirth is an in-depth childbirth class if you’re having an unmedicated OR medicated birth. You will learn about coping and relaxation techniques, what to expect in labor, as well as what to expect immediately postpartum.
Although making choices for labor, birth, baby and postpartum can be overwhelming, it can also be so empowering. Knowing your options is a great place to start. Good luck!
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