E3only

Hi guys,

Some of you may know, my wife and I are preparing to welcome our first baby late January!! Just wanted to check in if you have any thoughts on taking childbirth classes. Further we looked at John Muir and one another hospital. The costs seem to be 175 bucks for the day. Although cost is not an issue, I wanted to post here and find out if there are any alternatives OR if 175 is the right price point etc.

any help appreciated. thanks.

Yorkieabroad

Congrats on the baby. Number 1? I'd definitely recommend doing the class. When we did ours, I'm pretty sure it was free, but it was also an opportunity for pediatricians to get their toe in the door and try to sign up customers.......and to be honest, it worked, cos we liked the one that came to ours. We also met a few folk that we stayed in touch with.

Differing views on the $175...a) its a lot of money and we're going to need more cash now there are going to be 3 of us or b) its only 175 bucks - a pee in the ocean compared to the hundreds of thousands the little buggers going to suck out of us over the next 20 years

All in all, I'd do it, just so's you know the procedure, where to go, who to see etc etc. All the other stuff (puffing, panting, screaming, fainting) will come naturally - after all, dads have been doing that for donkeys years and and your wife will just have to do her best to ignore you and get on with her part!

kimilseung

I think ours was paid with the insurance, it was 7 years ago, so who knows.

As the male I was glad of the classes, as they did mean I was prepared for what was coming, although all the birth plan was thrown out the window, minutes after kick off.

Weeze

Do the class. For you, it's a chance to find out what your wife thinks about certain things and how you can help. For her, the known is less scary.
Ours were on the NHS and awful. Still though, at least I knew my way around and the sort of things I was going to be asked. I have heard much more positive stories of US classes.

Lion in Winter

I just read the book.

In my view people had been giving birth for a long time without the benefit of classes, I knew the biology basics, and there would be experts in the room. Of course I ended up having to go under the knife in a hurry (sideways on, the little so and so), but that wasn't because I didn't have a class. Also, the whole communal puffing and panting bit was a bit offputting.

Yorkieabroad

[QUOTE=Yorkieabroad;10420641]. When we did ours, I'm pretty sure it was free, /QUOTE]

Wife informs me that ours wasn't free - but she doesn't know how much it was as it was included in the birthing "package" we paid in advance to the hospital. I should have known better - nothing is free in medical here, but in my defence, it was very late when I was posting!

halfmoon

We didn't bother. Ours would have been free but we just didn't get around to it. My husband had no intention of attending the birth anyway, and I felt the same as Lion in Winter - there were enough experts there already. It was fine.

I can see the benefit of checking out pediatricians and meeting people though. Most of my English friends only did NCT to make friends.

Mind you, going on the Labor and Delivery tour was great. I wouldn't have had the chance to do this in the UK as they were all cancelled for infection control reasons (i.e. staff shortages).

The other part that made a difference was the 48-hour stay after delivery (I'm guessing this will vary depending on insurance). Had my own room, DH could stay as well, and we learned to change nappies etc with support on call. Left the hospital feeling quite confident with our newborn. We would have been discharged after 6-12 hours in England

E3only

Thanks very much. And thanks for the wishes

If we plan do it then we will go to closer hospital. We are not registered at that hospital but have a separate tour of the hospital we are registered with.

Yea it's a lot of money but its our first and we have no one around us from family to help us here.

Mr Weeze

I remember it more as hell on earth, but each to their own...

kimilseung

I think the class is less important if the birth plan is to go straight for an epidural. More useful, if the plan is to grit the teeth and bare it.

BubbleChog

Me and the TAS are expecting Mini-chog at the beginning of March. The classes at our hospital are $100 per couple for the basic child birth prep course and we can claim most of it back on our insurance.
They also have a whole range of other courses including a daddy boot camp, being parents, breastfeeding couples, baby essentials, massage for labour, pain management options, I swear my degree course had less options
Lx

Sofi

Congratulations on your coming bundle of joy. We had a baby two months ago, and this is what we used as far as childbirth classes are concerned:
http://www.babycenter.com/childbirth-class. It was pretty informative, and covered most of our questions.

Good luck for the labor and delivery

Karrie72

All depends on your style...if you're going down the 'natural' route then classes are helpful, I found the controlled breathing very helpful for those biting contractions. If you're going for an epidural or scheduled c-section you still might want to consider them. Mine covered things to be aware of during pregnancy like high blood pressure, placental abruption etc.

E3only

Thanks guys. It is much appreciated in the times we don't have many around us!!!

Thx sofi for your wishes and I will check out the link.

halfmoon

A good book to check out is 'Birth Skills' by Juju Sundin and Sarah Murdoch. They find a good balance between describing the natural elements of labour, yet respect when intervention and epidurals are needed. It really helped me stay calm in the early stages.