Birth Journey Preparation Class

Today Robbie and I went to an all day child-birthing class at the Birthplace in Mercy Hospital (which is where we will be having our baby). The class was called "Birth Journey Preparation", and because we are registered to birth at Mercy the class was free. This is outstanding since childbirth classes usually range from $200 to $300! The class is offered either as a four-week series or a full one-day workshop. While I can see why having the class spread over four weeks could be really beneficial (more time to bond with other moms, easier to digest information if it's broken into smaller chunks, etc.), we opted for the one day workshop because the weekday series is always at the same time as my prenatal yoga class. Fortunately, the same amount of information is covered in the one day workshop.

The nurse who taught the class, Linda, was really great. She has been helping to birth babies for longer than I've been alive I think, and it was really interesting to hear about the advances and changes some hospitals have made for laboring women. Mercy has a really natural approach to birth, and so do the nurses there. This makes me really happy because more than anything (besides a healthy baby), I want a natural birth, which is the main reason we are having a midwife instead of a doctor. I feel happy and relieved knowing that not only the midwife but also the nurse at Mercy that will be with us will both be rooting for a natural birth and will do everything they can to help make that happen. Another nice thing is that not only will we be able to stay in the stay in the same room the entire time we are at the birthplace (labor, birth, postpartum) we will also have the same nurse the entire time. So we will be able to really get to know that nurse and be comfortable with her. Mercy has an over 90% success rate of women leaving the birthplace being able to breastfeed comfortably and part of that success comes from the nurses training and dedication to helping new mom's with positioning and acquiring a good latch within the first 30-60 minutes of the baby's life. I was also very impressed to see that the nursery in the birthplace was completely empty...that's because the babies always stay in the room with the moms and dads. The nurses even have you learn how to give them their first baths and to change their diapers among a huge other list of newborn care skills so that you feel prepared when you leave the birthplace. Overall, I was very impressed with the philosophy of the birthplace and the care that we will be given while we are there.

The class itself covered a broad range of topics. We started by going through the anatomy and physiology of a pregnant women and the changes that occur in the body during birth. Then we talked about birthing positions and relaxation techniques. The fathers all learned how to give the moms massages, which was lovely. We had an exercise in deep relaxation and visualization through contractions. Perhaps the funniest thing I witnessed during the day was when Linda had all the fathers lay down on the floor, fold up their legs into their chest and push as though they were giving birth. She had them do this to demonstrate how silly and difficult it is to push lying flat on your back; pushing against gravity. We then got into positions that were more suitable for pushing; ones that allow gravity to work for you, which was neat to experience.

Other things we went over were the types of pain relief that is available to us. A lot of the pain relief options are not medications: such as taking a hot shower, going in the jacuzzi (there is one in each room complete with mood-lighting and jets ), using a birth ball, etc. We talked about and got to handle the different types of instruments sometimes used to assist in birthing, such as vacuums and internal fetal monitoring. We also talked about under what circumstances we might have to have a Cesarean section (although their c-section rate is low at 12%) and what that entails. We saw a birthing videos for three vaginal births and one Cesarean.  Finally we had a tour of the birthplace, which included being able to see an adorable newborn baby girl. The rooms are really nice, and I know we will be very comfortable there.

I am very happy with the class, and I think the instructor did a great job. I am excited to look through the book she gave us that goes over all the materials she covered in more detail. I feel more excited than scared for childbirth at this moment, which is a very good feeling to have.