Were Your Hospital Ante-Natal Classes Adequate? (Before Baby)

[BellyBelly]

I'm running two polls to get an idea of what your thoughts are on ante-natal classes offered by your hospital. The first poll will be for those who have had ante-natal classes but not had their baby, and the second who have had ante-natal classes and had their baby. So please be sure you vote for the right one which applies to you!

[diva det]

I did my ante natal through Frances Perry at the sofitel in a full day session. They had a twin specific one which was run by one of the midwives who had twins. The same midwife ended up nursing our twins in special care at frances perry, so it gave us a connection straight away. Very practical and hands on session.

One of the couples there kept on asking heaps of questions all day about everything. You could tell that the husband was very nervous about everything, and had played out every senario in his head.

One of the questions he asked the midwife was what happens if you go into labour in the supermarket and your waters break.(this is the type of questions he was asking all day). The midwife replied "You get free groceries!"

Well guess what happened to this couple. Yep at 26 weeks she walked into the supermarket and her waters broke all over the floor of the shop.
Wonder if he is still waiting for his free groceries???

[*Ali*]

I actualley enjoyed my anntenatal classes, I think it was for a couple of reasons. Firstly even though alot of what we were told was stuff that I had already read/ researched, it was nice to be able to ask questions about anything I was unclear on or what further clarification on. We actualley had a session with the annetheist (sp?) who came down and really took the time to explain what an epidural was and how they were done etc, even though I am not going into hospital planning to have an epidural it was nice to know what it was all about incase events occur and one becomes necessary. We also had a session for BF which was great, and during this time the guys got split off from the group and went off with a guy from NGALA who helped them better understand there role and answered any questions that they had. Lastly Ithink because the midwife that ran them was so lovley, kind, gentle etc it gave me a calming feeling about actualley going into hospital and having the baby.

[Melbo]

Ours were pretty standard - a basic introduction to everything labour and birth. In some aspects they were a little self-explanatory but I realise they probably have to be, considering the number of rather obvious (in my opinion) questions that were coming from some of the audience members. The hospital also offered a range of different times and days on which classes could be taken which I felt was a good idea too. It was good to meet the midwives and have a look around the unit too.

The majority of the course content was about the stages of labour and pain relief options (medicinal and non medicinal). It was from these sessions that I found out about the TENS machine which I ended up hiring.

I believe the classes need to be pretty generic to a certain extent because you cannot start from any assumptions about how much people know. I think if you are wanting anything more than the standard spiel, you need to seek out specialist birthing classes or do some wider reading on your own.

[BellyBelly]

Just a reminder, this thread is for those to vote on IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY HAD YOUR BABY, but have had ante-natal classes. I am trying to get a "before / after" picture going... iykwim?

[Melbo]

Sorry Kelly. I didn't vote though. I'm waiting for the appropriate poll.

Am I understanding this correctly ... you are wanting people who haven't yet had their babies to comment on the classes and their usefulness and the other poll will be for people who have had their babies to comment on what they thought? I am wondering if the response an individual might give before they have their baby could be a lot different to the one they might give afterwards. Hindsight can be a wonderful thing.

Cheers,

Mel

[BellyBelly]

Yep, I have two polls running, one before baby and one after, specifically to see

[Melbo]

Sorry, I don't think I'm explaining myself very well. I meant that it may be useful for the individual to answer the poll and comment both before and after their birth experience. The current set up seems to be that one group of people will answer the first poll and a separate group will answer the second poll unless I have the completely wrong end of the stick (and please correct me if I do!). =)

[Gemma]

We went Private and I felt the classes were only there for preparing us for a medically assisted birth. They showed us all the things they could use forceps, epidural needle etc. We went through all the pain relief options and were shown where the gas was on our tour. One of the two videos we were shown was a caesarean birth. We actually had to ask to see some videos of ‘natural’ births which we took home and watched.

I thought it was very strange that they didn’t cover breathing techniques in the classes. Surely that is common sense when preparing couples for the birth of their first baby. Also I think more focus should be towards breastfeeding. This wasn’t covered much.

We were very disappointed in the classes and thought it a waste of $160. The other couples seemed clueless about the impending birth and when asked about the stages of labour, they had not idea. I really think my many hours a day on BB back then helped a lot. The classes may be good for people that don’t read up about birth and caring for a baby or go online for some info but for us it was a waste of time.

For us, I ended up having a caesarean because I wasn’t progressing naturally and the cord was around Amy’s neck twice but the classes didn’t make any difference.

I just realised that I shouldn't have voted so take off my 'not beneficial at all vote'.