No antenatal classes - feeling unprepared!

[amberdee]

Thanks for all your tips and reassurance! (It's also good to know I'm not the only one who stresses out a bit!)
Just a quick question though... how DO they measure dilation in the first stage of labour? (Your DH knows more than me on this one Jan!!)

[MamaPan]

Amberdee - havent been to a class yet so someone correct me if I am wrong but I think it is through a VE (i think something to do with how many fingers across or something....)

[Tracey]

Amberdee, try to stay at home as long as possible where your in your own comfort zone & not stuck to monitors as it can make you yense up sort of thing which slows labour down....
When you arrive at hospital/or wherever your having bubba, depending on how you feel how far apart contractions are & the length of them etc they may do an internal to assess dialation...

[fionas]

Hi amberdee

Good question. I don't start my antenatal classes (due to an administrative stuff-up) until 35 weeks so I'm a bit anxious too.

But as my pregnancy book has pointed out - women have been giving birth for thousands of years without classes so it's not the end of the world. That makes me feel a bit better.

From what the other women have posted, it looks like we're not missing much. The only thing I really wanted to get out of them was practicing the breathing as I've done enough reading about types of interventions, pain relief, etc. etc. so I feel pretty confident about making decisions about that side of things and being able to weigh up various pros and cons.

I've been meaning to get the new labour book (it may include a DVD I can't remember) by Juju Sundin and Sarah Murdoch (I don't think we're allowed to include links) which looks very practical and good. If anyone else has used it, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Cheers


Fiona

[ShootingStar]

We went to an antenatal class with Jesse and felt it was a waist of money. When the time comes you do what works. And nothing they tell you there, you cant find on the internet. The only thing i wanted to know was about the drugs (lol!).. but again that you can find on the internet.. and also the different position.. which they only told you to squat and swivel your hips.. so there you go.. antenatal class in 9 sentences

Other than that they just showed you around the hospital.. talked about your feelings and DH's feelings on labour and how to breastfeed.. but the midwives show you at the time anyways.. its hard to grasp if you dont have a baby there.

Hehe others do find them useful, but personally found it a waist of time.. i dont really think youre missing out on much.

Best of luck with the birth!

[Tobily]

You've not missed much. We covered what labour is, what interventions the hospital wants you to have (well, not worded like that), a tour of the birth suite and "breastfeeding is easy and natural, here's a doll to practice holding to your covered-up breast".

What you actually need to know, but aren't told:
To push, pretend it's the biggest poo in the world.
If you tell the people pushing interventions to go away and shut up, they have to. No one can give you drugs/surgery or take your baby away without consent. REMEMBER THIS - people will try to bully you by telling you otherwise.
If you're on a monitor, you can request the monitoring is stopped at any time. If someone ignores your request, rip the thing off yourself.
Breastfeeding is very hard at first - expect a problem or two. Get a decent advisor's phone number before the birth if you do have major problems. To some women it's easy, but for most of us it's a learned skill, like walking. Hard at first with a few bumps, but second nature after just a few weeks.

Yep!! What she said

I don't think I learnt a single thing at my classes that was any use to me at all during my labours.
I learnt alot more from online boards like this one with real women talking about what really happens in hospitals and in labour.
Do lots of reading here and you'll learn much more than you ever will at a hospital class - where as Ryn pointed out they only tell you what they want you to know anyway

[Feathertop]

We did a one day antenatal class as our hospital is an hour away, and it was generally a bit of a refresher on what I'd read, with some specifics about their hospital. I found the tour at the end really reassuring as I could picture myself in there giving birth. Didn't cover much on breastfeeding, did show us how to put on a nappy and bathe a baby. Talked about the stages of labour, and how we might feel, and what our partner's might find they can do to help us (that was good). We did a half day breastfeeding class with the ABA which gave a lot more useful info on the mechanics of breastfeeding including a live demo mum, I found that very helpful.

Oh yeah - books and videos and stuff - make sure they are quite recent not old as otherwise the info will be out of date and useless.