Why Is A Childbirth Education Class Important?

Investing in a childbirth class is an investment in your birth experience. If you are interested in a positive birth experience, you won’t find that without investing time and energy into learning about and preparing for childbirth.

What is a Childbirth Education Class?

A childbirth education class is a class designed to educate families on labor and delivery! You can generally expect an education class to cover what to expect for labor, the stages and phases of labor, and common medical interventions. Some are more in depth and others are fairly basic. It often depends how much time and money you want to invest will impact how valuable the class will be for you. Some are free through birth locations, community health, government grants etc and often miss a lot of valuable information and others cost hundreds of dollars and offer a lot of information but aren’t always affordable for everyone.

How is Childbirth Education Beneficial?

A lot goes on with mom’s body and baby even has work to do during labor and delivery and most high school biology classes don’t talk about the process and what to expect. Even your college lifespan or biology classes don’t cover this information. So where do you learn about childbirth and how to prepare for it? You got it, a childbirth education class! Our society’s standard of care is not ideal for normal physiological birth and there are risks associated with any option one selects, so a class that takes the time to talk about how to birth your way and helps you identify your options, benefits, risks, and alternatives sets you up for being in the driver’s seat when it comes to deciding about your medical care. The more informed you are, the better able you can advocate for your desires for your birth experience. When you are more involved in your care, you are more likely to feel satisfied regarding your birth experience and the less likely you are to experience birth trauma. 

Tips for Picking a Childbirth Education Class

My biggest tip for selecting your childbirth education class is to not attend a class given by your hospital. It’s similar to taking a “How to Buy a Car” class from a car salesperson. Their class is going to primarily focus on how to make you a lucrative patient because they have a lot to gain financially from it. Take a class from someone who isn’t making money off of how your birth goes. For example, your hospital makes a lot more money when you utilize medications and/or have cesarean births. So it benefits them to not cover (or go into depth about) normal physiological birth, benefits of an unmedicated birth, laboring at home for as long as possible, and other topics that don’t involve you essentially spending more money. It also doesn’t benefit them to cover all (or any) of the risks associated with their medications, cesarean births, and/or the way their policies and protocols can negatively impact birth. So when they create their class, they often talk about the information that benefits them and their financial desires.

Another tip is to pick a class that aligns with the birth experience you desire. Many just roll through the basic motions of birth barely preparing you for YOUR birth experience. A good childbirth education class is truly about educating you and your support person so that you two feel prepared to make the best decision for your positive birth experience, this should also include accounting for changes in one’s birth plan.

Birth Your Way- Your Journey to a Positive Birth Experience

This class teaches you how to have a positive birth experience without costing hundreds of dollars or pressuring you to change your birth desires. It is designed for the moms who are interested in taking charge of their birth experience and playing an active role in their medical care. This class begins in the third trimester because I truly believe that your care (and your involvement in your care) during your third trimester can really set the tone for your positive birth experience. We cover the basics such as labor signs, phases and stages of labor, and possible interventions/situations but my class takes childbirth education a step beyond basics by covering your rights as a patient, informed consent, preparing for labor, labor positioning, how your partner can support you, and most importantly how your labor mentality can impact your birth experience. Whether you want a medicated or unmedicated birth, hospital or out-of-hospital birth, have a midwife or use a doctor, my class is about empowering you with all of the information so that you can make informed decisions regarding your medical care and have a positive birth experience. Remember, the more knowledge you have the more active you can be in your medical care and birth experience. When you choose to be active with your care and birth, the more satisfied you will be with it and the better your health and wellbeing will be in the long-term.

It’s your body, your baby, and your birth experience- why not do it your way?

Ready to Prepare for Your Positive Birth Experience?

Birth Your Way- Your Journey to a Positive Birth Experience is now available as a self-paced course!
Need more information? Click Here