Antenatal class - a must for me (Antenatal Care)

Member Name: emuk00

Product:	Antenatal Care
Date:	19/11/08 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Invaluable info, met lots of friends

Disadvantages: none

Usually most places offer antenatal classes over so many evenings, but my areas had a new one day class to offer, so we went along to that one. It meant hubby could come along as it was on a Saturday and it was at the hospital.

I was due 10th Feb 2008 and I had the class the 2nd week in January. It was from 10-4 with a lunch hour.
I must admit I was feeling a little nervous about it as you see and hear of some antenatal classes that seem to make some parents quite embarrassed and uncomfortable. I had also heard the NHS classes were a waste of time going. At the same time I was also looking forward to it.
But hey it was free, and this was the first time for us being parents, so we went along.

We got there and the room had a semi circle of chairs, we were one of the first to arrive, and as couples started to arrive, everyone kept themselves to themselves.

Once the class started the midwife introduced herself, and got us to introduce ourselves, I thought great, I have to stand up and say, 'my name is Emma and....', it was that bad at all though. She asked us to say our names, our due date and where we met our partners - that was it, and we didn't have to stand.

Then she went through the day's events: Childbirth, pain relief, breastfeeding, caring for a baby, massage techniques, and general bits to do with our pregnancies.

To get us all to feel at ease, she split the groups, female and males, and we started with an image of the female body, and we had to name certain parts of the body (to do with pregnancy), and on the outside put down how a woman feels during pregnancy. You can probably guess, the women did it properly, the men had a huge laugh about it, pointing out we were all hormonal moaning whatevers. It was funny and really got us all at ease, so we were all now chatting to each other.

She then showed us some graphic images of childbirth and talked us through the process, this was what I was there for.
I wasn't really worried about childbirth in the first place, but this really helped me understand the process and what to expect. She basically told us about trying to stay calm, and while a lot laughed it off, I knew what she was saying. She said breathing is the key on your contractions, and if you stay calm, your body won't have an adrenaline rush which will mean the baby will get plenty of oxygen which in turn will keep baby happy, and mummy happy. It was hard to grasp it while there, but I took her points on board.

We then moved onto pain relief, and again were split into groups, and all had a different pain relief to talk about and what we knew about it, advantages and disadvantages. I already knew I wanted to go through labour on gas and air anyway, but this opened my mind, that if you need something else, use it, and I had then decided after we had all discussed it as one group with the midwife which pain relief I would want, if needed.

The breastfeeding topic was useful, a lot of people got up to leave as they weren't interested - fair enough, but they weren't even going to give it a go. This part of the class made me more determined to try it than ever.

We covered other topics like what to pack in the hospital bag etc too, which was useful from a midwifes point of view.

We also covered what would happen if you go overdue etc.

I left the hospital feeling ready for the birth and feeling really excited about things. Nobody exchanged numbers which was a shame, but it turned out I didn't need to.

About 3 weeks later, close to my due date we were shopping, and we bumped into a couple who were due about 4 weeks behind me. We had a good chat and a laugh about me eating pineapple etc to go into labour, but that was it, no exchange of numbers.

When I finally went into labour on Thurs 21st Feb, I remembered everything the midwife had said, I stayed at home as long as poss, till just after 1pm to be precise, and I had my little girl at 4.07pm with just gas and air, so the class definitely benefited me.

Leaving the hospital the next day someone said hi to us, so we said hi back not paying much attention, and thought it must have been someone's partner from antenatal class.

When my baby was 6 weeks I was invited to a 6 week course for first time parents. I made some good friends there and when it finished we decided to all meet up every other Thurs for a coffee, and it was only while there 3 of us realised we all went to the same antenatal class, and one of the babies was born the same day as mine, crazy! We meet up all the time now which is nice.
While out having coffee with the mummies, we all went our separate ways and I bumped into the lady who was due 4 weeks after me, she had her little boy the day before me! And it was her hubby that said hi to us in the hospital - we now meet up on a regular basis too.

So it was so worth me going, because not only did I have a smooth and easy labour, I have lots of friends too

Summary: A real must for me, and I would recommend to all