Ante Natal Classes

Hi Ladies

Hubbie and I have just finished our ante-natal classes (did the two full day Saturday classes rather than the 7 weekly ones) so we officially "certified" to have the baby :D. Found them to be very interesting and useful and certainly think we've picked up some info that we didn't have before.

Just wondering if everyone has done them and what they thought of them? Good, bad, indifferent, scared the hell out of you ????

Also hoping I remember everything we got told and don't forget it all over the next few weeks.

I actually didn't get to do mine because was a flood of pregnanccies in the area and they were supposed to start the weekend after i had my baby. Glad in a way I didn't do them. The day I went in to be induced (had high BP and border pre eclampsia) I asked for a crash course :P

I think because I went in without really knowing what was going to happen anyway it was better!

I chose not to do them. For me, I preferred to ask questions relevent to my situation as they arose rather than worry about every possible outcome/intervention etc.

It's entirely a personal preference I think. I think it's good you feel so positive about yours and that you learnt things you didn't know. :)

We loved ours! I'm such a research nazi that there were honestly no scary surprises for me but DH learned heaps. We both really enjoyed the four sessions and they were extremely informative. We had a wonderful midwife running the classes who we've asked to be in for our birth if she happens to be rostered on at the time too.

we did one and we got alot of good info out of it. However as I didn't end up having a baby naturally I couldn't really use any of it. Otherwise it was good.

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We loved ours! I'm such a research nazi that there were honestly no scary surprises for me but DH learned heaps.

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Lol, I got 3 million questions off my partner throughout the pregnancy! O read heaps of feotus development books but made sure i didn't read the scary bits!

I thought the classes were great! I found the videos a bit disturbing - they were like 30 years old!!!

I'm off to my third out of the four classes tonight and have loved both of the ones I've been to.. So informative and the midwives are so nice :)
Thank goodness our videos were chewed up while moving (the labour and maternity wards have been moved) and they are waiting on the dvds to arrive.. let's hope they don't arrive until AFTER our classes have finished :D

I did them when pg with DD and a lot of the things I did know (too much reading during pg!), but I still learnt a heap, but the thing I found the best was the friends we made and still have. They all went to each other's first B'day and will be doing the same this year.

You'll soon be putting it all into practice! GL!

I went along mainly for the mother group factor. I was new to the town so wanted to meet others having a bubs around same time....worked out great. I am now in a different town, though I've been here 12months I will go along again to make a nice group of friends with babies around same age.

ours were fairly average actually. DH wasnt even there for them, so that sucked too.
The only things I thought very helpful/good were the masses of informationa nd videos on breastfeeding. It was fabulous!

The classes themselves though were very hosiptal based - very interventionist and not very geared towards 'natural' birthing alternatives

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The classes themselves though were very hosiptal based - very interventionist and not very geared towards 'natural' birthing alternatives

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Just noticed you're in WA too hon. Which hospital did you go to? We're going to Murdoch and the classes were brilliant. Much more geared towards a natural approach to labour, so much more than we expected. They obviously spoke about drugs and touched on intervention but they were definitely pro-nautral deliveries. The breastfeeding session was excellent.

I was down in Mandurah, delivered at Peel Health Campus. The place was great, but the classes were blah lol

i thought ours were crap.... we actually did role playing with a baby doll at one stage, and had to practice settling techniques.... what a load of crap.... i would recommend people do a calm birth course or something similar over the standard ante-natal classes, except perhaps if someone had never seen or heard a baby in their life, then maybe do them....

the only useful thing i found was seeing the hospital rooms...

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I was down in Mandurah, delivered at Peel Health Campus. The place was great, but the classes were blah lol

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We're having classes at the Rockingham hospital - I really wished your classes were as good as mine are. They are more on the 'Natural' side of things and would rather the natural side than assisted (as they put it)

Well I have been thinking about what I want for the next one...I really want a VBAC not sure how I am going to go about it, but we are in Bertram now, so much closer to Rocky...

Ahhh Bertram, close to me! (We're in Baldivis) They're renovating the labour and maternity wards in the Rockingham hospital, but their temporary birthing suites are still pretty nice

ooh Lush! lol Might have to check them out when I get a BFP :)

We just completed our course with Calmbirth and it was fantastic! I feel really confident about the birth now, and DH feels well prepared for supporting me as well. :D Well worth looking into them!

I've heard quite a few good things about Calm Birth but don't know if I've left it too late to do one of their courses. I've just over 4 weeks to go now. Start mat leave tomorrow however so might be able to fit in during the days when I won't be working.

Meadsie - will PM you now with the details of who we did classes with (at Hornsby) as I think she does private classes as well. :)