Your time is precious. And when you’re pregnant, it can seem like there are so many demands on your schedule. You have a hundred doctor’s appointments to attend. You want to plan a baby shower, and fix up the nursery. You need to pick a pediatrician and find daycare…
Is it really worth it to attend a childbirth education class?
What if it’s boring, and you and your partner just wasted your time?
Or worse, what if you learn too much, and you’re suddenly terrified. It’s not like you can cancel the birth. Your baby has to get out, one way or another.
Maybe it would be better to just go with the flow, and google whatever information you want.
I’ll be perfectly honest: there’s very little I can teach you in a childbirth education class that you can’t learn on the internet. And as a doula who’s been blogging for a couple of years, I’ve shared quite a bit of what I know with the internet.
But here’s a secret- childbirth classes, at least the good ones, like the ones we teach at DC Metro Maternity, aren’t just about regurgitating facts and figures about birth at you. It’s not about showing you a few birth videos that you could find on youtube and sending you out the door with handouts.
Attending a class that talks about birth is really about reassuring you that you’re going to be just fine. It’s about telling you that any worries or questions you have are normal (seriously, we’ve probably heard them before). That you’re normal, and that you’re going to figure it out, and you’re going to have your baby, and everything is going to be okay.
Childbirth education isn’t about making you a birth expert.
People get entire medical degrees, and still, there are parts of pregnancy and birth that are just amazing and a smidge mysterious.
But birth classes are based on the idea that knowledge is power.
And that things, including birth, are much scarier when they’re unknown.
Speaking of getting rid of some of that fear- childbirth class is just plain fun!
You meet couples a lot like you, and see that everyone thinks birth is a little weird. We blow up balloons and play with ping pong balls. Tell corny jokes and dance a little bit. We give you a chance to laugh and cuddle with your partner.
And that’s important. We have to laugh about labor and birth.
Because we’re teaching childbirth education classes as doulas who see what birth is really like every day.
We know you’re nervous about birth.
We’re doulaing for families of color while black women and babies are worried about their safety. While our clients over 35 are being told they’re “advanced maternal age” and high risk. And while most of us never see a birth until it’s time to do it ourselves.
So, is childbirth education worth it? Well, you get to decide.
It’s okay if you’d prefer not to overwhelm yourself with info. But if there’s any chance that a little more info and access to an expert would help, take a class. I’ve not yet had a student regret it.
Want to sign up for class with DC Metro Maternity? Click here and we’ll get you registered.
