When you think about the birth of your baby, how do you feel? Are you anxious? Afraid? Maybe just unsure of what labor and birth is going to look and feel like? All of these emotions are totally normal, but you don’t have to just hope for the best when it comes to childbirth— there is a way to help ease these worries: take a childbirth class.
Why take a childbirth class?
Childbirth education classes will walk you step by step through labor, birth and the postpartum period, helping you feel more confident and prepared as you embark on your childbirth journey. During a class you will learn about options available to you, which will allow you and your birth support person to advocate for yourselves and baby when having conversations with your providers. This will allow you to make decisions that are aligned with your wishes. You’ll also not only know what to expect from your body, your baby, and your providers, but also what to look for and ask in those weeks, days, and months leading up to birth.
What will I learn in a childbirth class?
Birthing classes will typically walk you through:
Understanding your pregnant body
- Signs labor is approaching
- Contractions
- What to expect from each stage of labor
- Baby positioning
- How to effectively manage pain and pain management options
- Tips for your support team
- Vaginal and cesarean births
- How to handle postpartum recovery
- Perinatal and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders
- Deciding birth preferences
- Physically and mentally preparing for labor
- Packing your hospital bag
- What to expect from your baby’s first days of life
Plus, how to handle postpartum recovery, including:
- Physical recovery
- Emotional well-being
- Postpartum bleeding
- Common postpartum complications
- And more.
Which childbirth class should I take?
There are many options when it comes to childbirth classes, and deciding which one to take depends on what you are looking for. There are in-person childbirth classes, likely at your birthing hospital, but we recommend taking a class online —such as our course Childbirth 101: From Labor through Postpartum— that you’ll have access to throughout your pregnancy and even after birth. Here’s why:
Why is an online childbirth class better than in person hospital class?
Well, to start, it’s convenient: You can watch the class at your own pace, on your own time, right from the comfort of your own home —and you can watch it with as many support people as you’d like. It’s also easy to refer back to. After your baby is born, questions or issues will come up about the postpartum period that you will want to refer back to. Our online childbirth class is broken up into easy to digest and follow, video lessons, plus it includes downloadable handouts, which makes revisiting information quick and easy (which means, no need to feverishly take notes!)
In addition, our Childbirth 101 class covers ALL the ways labor can go - not just the best case scenario. For so long, expecting parents have historically really only had the option of a more “old school” hospital childbirth class. These classes are often catered towards those hoping to have an unmedicated birth unmedicated childbirth and can often “skirt over” different forms of medical interventions and relief options. Tinyhood’s Childbirth 101 course is super comprehensive, and covers what labor is like whether you go unmedicated, have an epidural, or end up having a cesarean birth. This way, you can be informed enough about all the different outcomes in case things didn’t go as planned.
Lastly, we’ll give you completely unbiased pain relief tips. The instructor (an experienced labor and delivery nurse) covers all the different pain management options available. They talk about the pros and cons of epidurals, different relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, and even different labor positions that will help you get as comfortable as possible – including which ones are possible if you do get an epidural. (P.S. Did you know you don’t have to labor on your back?!) Many expecting parents have heard of Lamaze classes - while this method has been around for a long time, the pain relief techniques are guided to expecting parents who know they do not want to do any medication and want to focus on only breathing and movement techniques to relieve pain.
Overall, childbirth classes will not only help you with labor and delivery, but it will help you prepare during the months leading up to labor and delivery, as well as for the postpartum period.
Learn about different options and build your personalized birth preferences, what to expect from your pregnant body, how to do kick counts, questions to ask your provider, common end of pregnancy monitoring, tests and more with our Childbirth 101: From Labor through Postpartum online course, taught by labor and delivery nurse, Ashley Derderian Sousa, and go into your labor and delivery with the confidence you need for the big day and empower yourself!
