We finished up our last breastfeeding class, so I wanted to review the classes we've taken to prepare for E's arrival, to possibly help new mamas decide if it's worth the cost. First up, our childbirth class.
Our class was through our OB's office- Contemporary Women's Specialists, here in Tulsa. Our OB is Dr. Martin (who we LOVE) and her nurse is Kristin- we're also pretty big fans of hers:). We had initially signed up for a childbirth class through St. Francis, but when we found out Kristin offered a class we switched to hers. The class was $75, it was on a Saturday, and lasted from 9am to 2 pm, with lunch provided.
The first half of the class started with Kristin covering some exercises we could be doing to prepare for labor- squats, pelvic tilts, and Kegels. We watched several videos on ways to cope naturally with labor, breathing, massage, positions, etc, and different pain medications. Kristin explained the different stages of labor and when we should come in to the hospital. We watched videos on vaginal birth and c-section, and what circumstances would bring about a c-section.
Honestly most of what we covered the first half I already knew from researching online and reading pregnancy books. I do think it was helpful to have Blake there so he had an idea of what to expect, but I had shared a lot of the stuff I'd found with him. It was good to have someone to ask questions of though, and to make sure we were both on the same page. Also, I'm sure we'll refer back to the handout Kristin gave us when we're actually going through it all.
After lunch was when I would say we got the most out of the class. We had two pediatricians come in to talk with us and answer questions. They covered things like immunization schedules, what to look for in a pediatrician, tests performed in the hospital, and LOTS of other things. Neither of us had done as much research about AFTER the baby is here, or we had questions about things, so this was extremely helpful. You can read all you want and watch lots of videos on babycenter, but it doesn't compare to having a real, live, person to ask things. And I had lots of questions:)
Finally, we drove over and took a tour of the Labor and Delivery area and the Postpartum rooms. It was good to go over exactly how to get there, where we could park, and how to get to L & D since St. Francis is a bit of a maze. This knowledge came in really handy when I had to make the trip to get
monitored. It was also good to find out what was offered in L & D at our particular hospital- ours has showers, but not tubs. They offer birthing balls, and wifi, but don't have dvd players.
Overall I was glad we took the class. I was expecting a little more hands on education- a wonderful
blog friend of mine said in her class they actually had the hubs practice how to massage the pregnant wives, and they had her hubby wear a sympathy belly as well. I wish ours had done that, but alas, breathing was all we practiced. I would have also liked to pick up some new things about labor and delivery, but that may have just been my fault for researching so much beforehand.
