Over the past 2 Saturdays Sean and I attended the "Prepared Childbirth" class at the hospital. It was taught by Nancy, one of the labor and delivery nurses. The first week she covered the stages of labor - complete with video entitled "The Stages of Labor" - and natural pain management techniques. If you're ever bored on a Saturday night I'm sure you can find the video on the web somewhere. Look in the horror section :) This part of the class included what happens during the different stages, how long they usually last, signs to look for and ways to naturally get through the pain (breathing techniques, massage, movement, water, birthing balls). We also practiced the breathing techniques, but it was a little weird since I wasn't actually in pain.
The second week we reviewed the info from the first week and then also covered medication options for pain and induction. I found it confusing because it seems very common to be induced to some extent (even if you go into labor on your own), but is it really necessary? I plan to talk to my doctor about this at my next appointment. I would like not to be induced. I also don't want an epidural, but after the class I am more open to it if I feel like I need it. I have an idea of how I'd like things to go, but I'm trying to stay flexible since I know there's a bunch of things out of my control.
The main thing I didn't like about the class was that the instructor jumped around a lot and tended to cover some things very in depth and then completely forget to mention other things. But on the positive side, she did repeat things a lot to help you remember and she had some good real life stories.
At the end of the class we took a tour of labor and delivery. The birthing rooms are all private and pretty large, plus the baby stays in the room (both birthing or postpartum rooms) with the mother the entire time (except for when boys are getting circumcised). They do have a 24-hr nursery that the baby can go to, but they encourage you to have your baby with you. She showed us the different monitors (fetal heartbeat and contraction) that they use. If you're not having any problems you can walk around either without a monitor or with a wireless monitor. They also have a birthing tub that can be brought into any of the rooms that I really want to try out. You can use it during labor, but you can't deliver in it (which I don't think I'd want to anyways).
The class also included a handout with suggested items to pack for going to the hospital. Sean had already been bugging me about this so last night I got almost everything together and ready to go. There are some things that I still need to use so I just wrote them on a list so I don't forget them.
Overall I think the class helped me feel more prepared and confident.
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