Hi Kelly,

I also recently attended the "Choices for Childbirth" classes on Friday nights in Brunswick and was present at the class you mention.

I found all of the classes to be very helpful in that they forced myself and my partner to really think through our expectations and desires for the birth of our baby.

However, wanted to mention that I was kind of disappointed with the class you're referring to as I felt that it offerred no concrete suggestions for actually coping with the pain of childbirth.

Although I didn't have any problem with listening to the tape of the woman crying out in pain during childbirth, I was kind of hoping for a few suggestions or strategies for actually dealing with the pain.

Maybe it might have been useful to have some sort of discussion regarding strategies such as attempting to have the baby in the optimal position for giving birth (for example, a discussion re: anterior vs postier babies) or research regarding the effects of having a birth attendent present (in terms of a reduction in the length of labour and interventions) or the positive impact of hypno birthing for some women.

It kind of concerns me that maybe playing a tape of a woman crying out in pain might actually serve to achieve nothing more than instilling fear in women that are already feeling anxious. Although I'm not completely convinced that hypno birthing will be a successful strategy for me, I can see that fear can lead to tension which will maybe result in even more pain, or in a situation in which women who have chosen to give birth in hospital end up giving their power away to a well meaning nurse or ob who is pushing for intervention - thereby inadvertently leading to a less than optimal birth.

I came away from that class acutely aware that childbirth is REALLY going to hurt, and with an understandinging of the effects of intervention of the birthing process, but no real strategies for the sorts of things that i might try to avoid the intervention/drugs with the exception of having a homebirth where such interventions are not really possible.

Good luck with running the course next year! Hope it goes well!