(Not my antenatal class)
On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to attend our day of Parentcraft classes. For those outside the UK these are the antenatal classes provided to you by your hospital in the run up to your birth. They’re free and can either be attended over several evenings or in one large block. We decided that we would prefer to do a whole day session and we would also be able to get a tour of the delivery suite/rooms as well.
Having spoken to a couple of my mummy friends, we had a bit of an idea what to expect, although there were things I thought would happened which didn’t.
There were around 20 couples, all of whom were due within the next two months and the class was led by a lovely midwife. A mother of six herself, I really enjoyed her teaching style. She made the class very interesting and humorous, interjecting theory with real life examples.
The topics she covered were:
* stages of labour (got to watch a video along with it)
* what to bring to the hospital (the NHS doesn’t give you ANYTHING these days!)
* putting together a birth plan
* forms of pain relief
* hospital policy – dos & don’ts
* different types of births including induction & caesarean plus after effects
What she didn’t cover:
* breathing techniques
* breastfeeding
For me I found the session really useful because we were able to ask questions specific to ourselves and the hospital. Being an experienced midwife she didn’t pull any punches and was really practical and honest about what happens, which I appreciated.
We talked through all the different forms of pain relief and it confirmed my original thoughts around keeping labour as natural as possible. The plan for me is to use gas and air and not have an epidural.
At the hospital you have two options where to have your baby, the Delivery Suite or the Midwife Led Unit (MLU). I have opted for the MLU. The MLU is like having your baby in the comfort of your home but with the safety of a hospital environment and is less evasive.
Women for whom it is suitable will give birth in a low tech, midwife-led area, often requiring less pain relief, the unit specialises in normal (natural) childbirth in a relaxed and restful environment and caters for water births, breastfeeding and traditional methods of child birth/care.
As the class didn’t cover breastfeeding I have a separate session on this with a local breastfeeding specialist.
How many of you put together a birth plan – was it helpful when you went into labour?
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Can I please ask why you don't want an epidural?
ReplyDeleteCongrats!!! In my opinion everyone ought to have some sort of birth plan. Whether it is just shared with your doctor or you have it in memory to share with your nurse once you arrive. I'm a doctor and in the labor ward the nurses used to get nervous about those that wrote out their birth plan. For us docs some where unrealistic and I often discussed with my personal patients when they shared them with me and worked with them on it if they choose to. I wanted a close to natural delivery but it didn't happen for me...after 2 days and many hours of pushing my baby started showing signs of stress and I ended up choosing a c-section and had my beautiful baby in my arms (learning she was 9pounds 4.9oz and her head was in the wrong position explained a lot)...for breastfeeding check out my post http://thesweetbitterlifeofanigboprincess.blogspot.com/2011/08/breastfeeding-and-work.html la leche leagues I've heard has some good resources. good luck!
ReplyDeleteOoo, getting closer! I'd say it's good to have a birth plan, but with flexibility in mind. It's great that you want to have a natural a birth as possible.
ReplyDeleteI had wanted a water birth too for our first child but things didn't work out that way. G reminded me whilst I was in the height of labour (he said he just wanted to make sure that I didn't tell him off for not reminding me!) and I drowsily (effect of the gas) "forget that!"