27 Sep Childbirth Education Classes

Labour is one of the most precious and memorable days in a lifetime and enormous preparation and planning should go into it.

Childbirth education classes should be geared not only to the pregnant mom, but her partner as well. The intricacies of pregnancy and labour can be learnt together – stimulating discussion between you as a couple, helping you to work through problem areas and finding better solutions to make this life long journey of parenting the exciting path in life that it should be.

The philosophy that should be taught at classes – is one of “informed choice through the knowledge of alternatives” – in other words the teaching should cover the pros and cons of all your options for the birthing process, and once the mom has heard and understood all the different methods available to her – she now has the knowledge to make her decision.

The classes are a place where long term friends are made, where you can compare labour methods, and encourage each other in the trying times of early parenting, swapping tried and tested tips on every available subject.

So what exactly do you learn at these classes – typically the course is an 6 – 8 week course – held one evening a week. In that time being taught about the changes that have occurred in the mother’s body during pregnancy – which gives the dads an enormous amount of insight about what has been happening during the past few months – it all begins to fall into place. From there, one starts to look at what labour is all about – how it starts and then when to go to the hospital – but one of the most practical and beneficial evenings is learning coping skills – skills for coping with the pain of labour but equally so the ways to cope with the everyday stresses of life. The normal natural process of labour is covered. Then onto the possibilities of birthing not progressing totally normally.  The most important issue is to come out of labour and be able to say, “That was a fantastic birthing experience.”

Practical advice is also discussed – how to bath your baby, breastfeeding, handling your baby in general.

The classes combine a fun-filled time with important information gained in your life at the same time