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Did you prepare for your birth with childbirth education classes? Lamaze, Bradley, HypnoBirthing or another?
Why or why did you not choose to take a class?
What class did you take?
Tell me about your experiences and how it affected your birth.
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5 comments:
I took Bradley, mostly because I felt that deciding to have a natural delivery without any education would be really difficult. I wanted to be prepared for anything and everything that could happen. I had a great experience even though I had a long labor and felt like I knew exactly what was going on at each stage, so I am really glad I did it.
This is a good question, but for many like myself can be found to be a humerus one as well. With our son, born in 2005, we wanted to be educated. I was a first time expecting mommy and everything was new and scary. I did however want to know as much as I possibly could about what what happening to me, and what my choices were, as well as how to labor and cope with the pain. I wanted an all natural birth, and I thought I could have one. We attended a birthing class provided by the hospital my son was going to be born at. The class was advertised as giving instruction on how to labor and birth. What we found out quickly was that the class offered no such advice or even direction, instead was geared towards the hospitals new maternity ward, and "in the event of intervention." They spent almost all of their time "educating" us on episiotomies , and epidurals. When asked what drug I was going to use, I replied none. The woman hosting the class then laughed at me in front of the rest of the group and said, "Honey, trust me, natural is a good idea, but you will want an epidural." We never went back to the class. This time around, (due in August)I decided to take the authority and own my birth. My sons ended in un-necessary c-section and my birth plan was thrown out the window. Labor was never something I even was allowed to start. So here we are about to have our second, and it really is going to be my first birthing experience. We have made decisions about the upcoming birth, to make sure this one goes the way we want it to. I really wanted to attend a Bradly class, but the closest one to me was over 3 hours, and cost more than I could afford, or would even pay for a birthing class. Nothing else is even offered except another hospital class, and I'm not doing that again. What I have done, is read, I have read a book on the Bradly method as well as hypno-birthing. We are going to combine the two, and use what we have learned from both. I am so excited, and know that what I have learned will help me relax, and cope with discomforts of childbirth. I know that these methods will work well for us, and I have full confidence in my ability to birth this child drug free!
Thanks to both of you for sharing.
Michelle, I am so proud of your decision to have a natural birth. I have taken a hospital childbirth class as well and found it to be similar to your experience. I know Bradley and Hypno are great ways to prepare for a natural birth.
I hope to catch up with you after the birth and see how your VBAC went.
HypnoBirthing, here! :)
I decided to take the class, frankly, because I was scared to pieces of an epidural. All along I just assumed I would have one, then at 12 weeks pregnant, after realizing just how horrid my fear of needles really is, I thought I should figure something else out.
Taking the class was a leap of faith. We had to drive 5 hours round trip to get to the closest practitioner. I had a wonderful birth.
Second time around, I decided to hop a flight to Atlanta and get certified to teach HypnoBirthing classes rather than drive again for a refresher course. Best decision ever.
Third time around, I had two births under my belt, had been teaching HypnoBirthing classes myself, and it was the best birth I could have asked for. I call it my "bonus birth" since we were "done" after the first two, and our third snuck her way in. I was so excited to enjoy another birthing day! :)
HypnoBirthing for us. I was able to use the techniques in early labor for my first birth, but active labor got tough. I made it through, but it was a tough one. For our second birth, I reviewed the materials and practiced the meditations/visualization during pregnancy. Once labor hit I was able to remain completely relaxed and use the techniques through the entire delivery. It was amazing! I think having one birth under your belt definitely makes it easier to just let go b/c you know what is happening.
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