Help with birthing classes?
ByMy midwife has been harping on me to take childbirth classes with my husband. I would like a natural childbirth if possible, but am having a hard time choosing between Lamaze, Hypnobirthing or Bradley Method. This is my first pregnancy and I have little clue as to what’s going to happen during labor, but I thought a logical solution to my dilemma would to just buy a few different childbirth books read them all and then sort of utilize elements from each method during my childbirth…and then take the basic childbirth class at the hospital. (my midwife has told me to take this class in conjunction with another birthing method class)
So I guess my question is, are the birthing classes (such as Lamaze or Hypnobirthing) completely necessary if I do extensive research on my own? If you took any of these classes were they useful? Any other advice is appriciated!
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2 Comments
April 8th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I have decided not to take any classes, but my mother-in-law is somewhat of a birth coach and will be present during my labor and delivery. She and I have been working with the Bradley method (as she has the most experience with this type of birth) and I feel pretty prepared. My sister-in-law took a class with her husband though, and they both said they found it extremely beneficial. Sometimes I think it’s just about *feeling* informed and ready though, ya know? It’s important to be comfortable, and the more knowledgable you are, the easier it is to relax and go through with an easy labor. So if you feel that taking a class will help you to feel more prepared, then go for it…but I do think it’s entirely possible this day and age for a woman to completely educate herself and get through it just fine.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
I used the Bradley method four times. It works great. If you want a book, then I recommend the book, Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. It also contains the exercises that you need to practice. Lamaze goes along with all the routine hospital procedures. It informs you as to what will happen, but the statistics between those who use Lamaze and those who use nothing are not very different. Hypnobirthing concentrates on relaxation, but they also use a lot of the routine hospital procedures. I’ve recently read that they have a 70% rate of unmedicated births and a 15% c-sec rate. The Bradley method is totally natural childbirth; they don’t use the routine procedures, like electronic fetal monitor or episiotomies. They have a 90% rate of unmedicated births and only a 5% c-sec rate.
I wanted a method with the highest success rate, so I chose Bradley. They also have a lower infant mortality rate than the national average.