Prenatal classes

Lifestyle Parenting, Household Affairs and Cuisine corner
1

Hi everyone,
I am 25 weeks pregnant MashAllah. My hospital offers prenatal classes at a cost of $195. The classes cover: labour and delivery: an overview of stages, comfort measures and coping skills for pregnancy and labour, medications and interventions, caesarian section, breastfeeding, resources and hospital tour.

Is it worth it?
Can this money be used elsewhere towards baby items more effectively?

Thoughts.

2

Re: Prenatal classes

I took them for my first baby along with hubby. Loved them. Yours are expensive though, ask around at other nearby hospitals to see what they offer. They won't ask you to register at a particular hospital in order to take the classes. The info is all the same.

Good luck, IA

3

really really honestly speaking..... no they dont help. cuz once you are in labour...everything you know goes.out the window and you rely on the midwives and nurses to tell you how to breathe at diff stages.of labour and how to push etc...you basically get a crash course :d

4

Re: Prenatal classes

^agree with khawa!

5

Re: Prenatal classes

i agree with khawa as well.
take the class to educate yourself but be prepared to have all that fly out your head at the time of labor. ofcourse you can also utilize loads of free online resources to educate yourself.
i'd say ... BF classes are probably the most useful/helpful .... for that you can reach out to your local le leche league for classes etc... or request a nursing consultant at the hospital you intend to deliver.

congrats on the pregnancy!

6

Re: Prenatal classes

It depends...some of them like BF ones can be useful but other than that...taking a class might not prepare anyone as much as they might think.

7

Thanks for your input ladies. I'm leaning towards just having a hospital tour and no classes. But let's see

8

Re: Prenatal classes

I really liked the classes. But maybe this is more because I am a person who likes to be prepared. There are other first time mothers in the classes and you go into labor knowing what to expect. Sure, there are online resources but being there in person in a real classroom is really different.

9

Re: Prenatal classes

^ I agree, and plus, I think it's helpful for the dads-to-be too. They don't get to do much during the pregnancy but this involves them too and they learn to change diapers haha.

10

Re: Prenatal classes

^ oh lord! LOL ... does it really take a class to learn to change diapers :D

i guess my perspective is skewed ... the ones i see either don't even make it to L&D and have to be delivered immediately in the ER/ER parking lot or ambulance bay OR they have to be rushed to the OR.
even the ones where i have to run to L&D to deliver (cuz their OB isn't in house or is still on their way) are pretty much a grunting mess and needing a nurse to tell them to breath so and push so .... but ehhh whatever floats your boat.

I think child birth is just one of those experiences that you have to live through to understand. no amount of book learning/classes/mock simulations can prep you for the actual event. I say this having gone though the theoretical learning experience, followed by practical experience of having delivered over a 100 babies before going through the actual event myself ... there just aint no comparison ....

11

Excuse me? Figuring out where to go to buy a chocolate fudge sundae topped with halal bacon bits and sliced custard apple at 3 in the morning is not doing much during pregnancy? :mad:

12

Re: Prenatal classes

Lol lol best response so far! And there are halal bacon bits?

13

Re: Prenatal classes

I agree about getting the dads involved. In the class I took, the instructor was showing a donut hole pillow to sit on after childbirth to help with pain in the stitches ( great idea, no one asked me to take one home from the hospital, but I remembered from the classes and asked for one to take home)., and one of the dads shuddered. The instructor said that's why we get the dads involved.

Can you deliver a baby without the classes? Sure, but do they help ease your mind from childbirth? Yes! BTW, I did not push the way the nurses asked me to during childbirth but did it the way they said during classes, and never developed the painful hemorrhoids that a of women do!

14

Re: Prenatal classes

At my time first I was interested in taking classes but when saw discovery health channel there is no need to take classes, u can see online videos and tutorial to learn but as other ladies said when u r in labor the nurses are best for taking care at that time, best of luck.

15

Re: Prenatal classes

Hey! That's where I learned how to change diapers! Lol :P

The real deal is way different, you're totally right, but at my class breathing and labor was only a small part of the session. The rest had to do with other stuff like teaching husbands to recognize the signs of PPD and where to get help if you need it, lactation consultants, what happens after you have a C section etc.

16

Re: Prenatal classes

Hahaha you’re right! My bad!

17

Re: Prenatal classes

LOL

:hehe:

18

Re: Prenatal classes

@eastern11 Pardon my lack of knowledge but what r the diff ways to push? I delivered in saudia and no nurse or doc told me how to breathe or push. I just watched a breathing excercise video and did it (in through ur nose and out thru ur mouth). Is there more to it?

19

Re: Prenatal classes

The nurses in the hospitals told me both times to push as if one was going to the bathroom. The instructor told me to push where the baby will come out. That will help not to develop hemoroihids. The second way is what I followed.