When do you go for birth classes?

Hi every1!:D

Im new to this forum, my sis recommended me to join :D she said if i had any qs just post it in and someone would reply with their advise. so here goes....

Im comin up to 28wks preg dis wkend and its my first one, there is sooooooooo much to read and learn its overwhelming! but my qs is, im seeing a gyno/obst atm, does she tell me wen to go and book for my birth classes??? and also is it true if you choose to have an epidural anaesthesia dat u are more likely to tear??? ( i really dont want to tear :rolleyes: )

Kaz :D

Hi and welcome to bb. I booked in at my hospital for birth classes and they start next week for 5 weeks. I'll be 28 weeks then. Maybe you should ring your ob and ask them where you can do classess or ring the hospital where you are going. As for the other stuff, sorry I cant help you there, I'm a first timer too!
Looks like you are due around the same time as me, you should jump into our due dates group :)
Good luck
Melissa

Hi Kaz and welcome to BB.

We are booked in for our birthing classes around the 31/32 week which isn't that far off. I booked mine back in November, so I would suggest that you either contact the hospital you are attending or speak to your gyno/obst. As I just booked it thru the hospital but I am going public.

Hi Kaz - Welcome to BB!

My hospital recomends you commence classes between 30 and 35 weeks. I had to book in when I booked into my hospital (a private hospital) and even though I put my request in straight away (before I even reached 8 weeks) I missed out on the classes DH and I wanted and ended up going when I was about 25 weeks (from memory). Personally, I think that the earlier you go the better - there were some preperation things mentioned in my classes that would of been little use to those women who were only 10 weeks (or less) from their EDD!
I had to book into my classes through my hospital. My Ob's receptionist booked me into the hospital who sent me out registration info including papers to enrol in my classes. I sent it back to them and got in. There are some private classes around that you can enrol in or contact the hospital you're birthing at to get details of their classes. Some Community Health Centres also run these classes (or can point you in the right direction). There is a thread around here somewhere about local classes but I haven't looked at it in a while so am not sure if it's only Vic classes or classes around Aust - but have a look at it!
With regards to being more prone to tearing if you have an epidural - I haven't heard that one! Maybe one of the other girls might know more about that though...

Hope the rest of your pregnancy is a H&H one!

MG :)

I did the birth classes at my local hossy in WA and they had the choice of once a week over 5w, or each night for 5 nights. We took option 2, as i was 36w at that point... and i had my ds at 37w :) So it worked out well. In my class there were a couple of people that were due, they left it to the last min... So dont stress, there's plenty of time...

Kaz, we went on the weekend, and I was 31 wks then. We are going again to another one in two weeks as well. We had the option of going every wednesday night for 5 weeks or 7 weeks or something, but we chose the full day option as we thought it would work out better for us. Our class was pretty full on, and it was mostly the educator talking, showing pictures, watching videos and getting our partners to massage us, a tour of the delivery suites and stuff like that - not a huge amount of time for discussions, though we did get to have some time for discussion. I guess if you go to the one spread out over a number of weeks you'd get more time for discussions and stuff.
When I booked in to the hospital, my midwife gave me a pamphlet about the classes and they said to go to the claases from about 26-28 wks onwards, if we choose to go.

At the class, the midwife did say something about how people might tear if they have epidural because they might push to hard (so bub might come out too quick for you to stretch) because they cant feel the area, so they dont know they are pushing too much until the midwife tells them to push less. omg did that make sense? I am having trouble with thinking today.

There is also a forum for private birth education classes - they are much better than hospital based classes as they are more comprehensive and deal with more issues to help you avoid interventions like that.

Hi Kaz and welcome to BB. I think everyone's answered your class question, and I'm not sure about the tearing with epidural issue, but I wanted to share with you my experience.
I read a lot about giving birth and I really looked forward to the birthing experience. There were lots of things I could've done to prepare myself better (eg I only tried perineal massage once!) but mostly I just tried to stay positive. I was REALLY afraid of tearing/ being cut. That's what really worried me. Just to share with you though, when I birthed Natalie I had a 2nd degree tear and it hasn't been a problem at all. I didn't feel it happen (and I didn't have any drugs) and afterward I was on such a high that I didn't care about being stitched and aside from a little itching as it is healing I haven't really even noticed them there.
It's only been two weeks since the birth, so I guess there's still time to experience discomfort (like we haven't tried DTD yet ;) ) but I just wanted to reassure you, from someone who was really afraid, that tearing isn't such a traumatic thing. HTH.

Hi Kaz, welcome to BB.

I did my classes at 31,32 and 33w - that would have been the same time I did the private classes, if we had gone for those. We had a very good midwife take the first two at the hospital so I can't fault them (DH did think they were a little repetitive, but I pointed out that's what pregnant women need!), the midwife who did the third was a little more fixed and only really offered her pov. The first midwife went through how to avoid intervention and why as well as what it was and when you would want it, as well as how to ask for it and things like that - information with only a slight bias to the natural birthing. But then I want no drugs, so I didn't really notice the bias too much!

I understand that the more pain relief, the more likely you are to tear simply because you're relying on someone else telling you when to push rather than feeling when to do it yourself. But small tears and/or grazing are almost expected when birthing from the statistics I've seen!

Hi Kaz - I'm 31 weeks and have my first class in 2 weeks time. I didn't want to do them too soon - wanted to leave them closer to the birth!

I am 34 weeks and am doing the ante natal class on Saturday as a 1 day class as we are living in the country. You could also do the classes over 4 weeks for 2 hours.

I got the information about the classes sent out when I booked in at the hospital.

I moved to Adelaide when I was 30 weeks and by that point all the classes were full until after my due date. It was a bit disappointing but we had a private session with the teacher where we could ask whatever we wanted. It only took 30 minutes and I think DH preferred it that way. I guess it just depends on how many openings your hospital has.

If you get the Pink Kit you can do it at home and travel at your own pace, learning more than hospital classes.

Hi Kaz
You should try to book in for classes now.
Yes it is true that if you have an epidural then you are more likely to tear. There is also a higher chance of having a vacuum or forceps extraction. Often if the OB decides to do a forceps or vacuum then he will also perform an episiotomy.