So one of the things I feel you should absolutely invest in during your pregnancy, especially if this is going to be your first baby is a good quality birth class, and a good birth class should accomplish the following things. One, it should help you feel confident and mentally prepared for when you go into labor. Although you may still feel nervous about labor, you should feel more prepared after your birth class. Two, it should help you understand clearly the natural birth process each stage your body goes through and the purpose of them. For example, you know, you're going to have contractions, but the first class will explain why you get them. For this reason, I highly recommend taking a natural birth class if you can, regardless of whether or not you want a natural birth.

Because how your body naturally handles labor and delivery is the foundation of giving birth. Even if you need or want medications or interventions. And in order to be fully prepared for birth, it's very beneficial to understand what's happening. To know what you can expect so you can be ready for it. If this is your first baby and you've never witnessed someone else's work personally, you may be surprised to realize how different the birthing process is from how it's portrayed in movies or on TV. A good brief class will actually teach you useful stuff.

Just some examples of things I personally learned from my natural birth class. There's a ton, but I'll just mention a few. It was how long the average first time labor is, that you're actually expected to have to push longer. If you get an epidural based on statistics. The hospital told me this to where I delivered, it's actually their policy that they give an extra hour for you to push if you've had an epidural, and they apparently have a set time they normally allow moms to push for before they would intervene. This doesn't mean that you automatically push for a long time if you get an epidural and in some circumstances, having an epidural can help a delivery progress, but I was totally unaware of these statistics before My birth class and hospital tour.

I also learned that a woman's water doesn't always break right away when labor starts. Although it happens sometimes, most times, this will not be the first sign of labor. And this was true for me for both of fibers. Mine didn't actually break until I was eight or nine centimeters dilated, literally right before I started pushing. I had been in labor for over 19 hours with one of my water books the first time and in labor for about 40 hours before it broke the second time. But don't worry, most moms are in labor as long as I was.

And three a good birth class should explain some of the common medications and interventions that may be administered during labor and delivery without trying to influence your personal decisions on these matters. I really appreciated having the natural birth class that I took, because the instructor explained the purpose of different interventions. She explained how they can interfere with your body. how your body is naturally dealing with birth. Why Also how they can be beneficial. So it was a really good balance of information and pros and cons.

So bonus points any birth class that can explain interventions in an unbiased way that leaves you feeling prepared, but not discouraged from giving birth the way you personally want. Everyone is different and you have the right to decide what is best for your situation and you also have the right to change your mind if need be. For a good quality birth class will give you practical suggestions for coping during labor and provide tips on how your birth partner can also support you. Many birth classes will also offer proactive tips on things you can do during pregnancy that will be helpful, such as certain exercises that will benefit you later. So when to find over a class, I suggest that you start to look for a good quality birth class at the beginning of your second trimester if possible. No, I don't mean necessarily that you need to start taking on this early but just to find one so that you can register for it and have it on your schedule.

If you plan it out. If you can plan it out so that you start taking the birth class towards the end of your second trimester or in the beginning of your third, I think that's a good time to start a birth class. But you may also have to just go with what's available and when it's available. If you have a hospital offering a birth class in your area, especially if it's your hospital where you're delivering this can definitely be beneficial. However, I do highly recommend that you supplement that with a more in depth free class, preferably one that talks about natural birth. And no, you do just want to make sure any birth class you choose to take is not too close to your due date, so that if you were to go into labor like a week or two early you'll have completed this class already and can be fully prepared.

Now if you cannot find a good quality birth class in your area, depending on where you live, you may not have a lot of options, in which case you may just want to take whatever you can sign up for locally. If you can't find a good in depth in person birth class. I definitely suggest you take a good quality online first class. A good quality work class is definitely worth paying for. Unfortunately, birth classes aren't generally covered by insurance, but it's a good investment if it's good quality. As far as paid birth classes, I'd asked around and read reviews and see what other people have to say about them because you do want to take a good quality one from someone who knows what they're talking about.

And if you have the option of taking a good quality bird, class and person that signed up, you may want to choose this over an online class simply because you'll have the opportunity to ask questions on the spot and be able to experience the atmosphere of support that you get when you personally talk with instructor and other expecting couples. However, there are also benefits of a good quality online birth class instead of an in person class. You can often take this on your own time and not have to worry about the time of the class conflicting with other responsibilities you or your spouse or birth partner. Have Also you don't need to travel to a different location you can take the class in the comfort of your own home, and some online classes offer email support or even live sessions where you can chat and ask questions.

And just to know if you're looking for a good one to take online, shoot me an email at Ellie at house on scene comm E. LL. E house bouncing calm, and I could offer you some suggestions. But you may ask, can't you just find all of this first class info for free online? My short answer is no. Do you find bits and pieces of good birthing info online? Yes, but a full in depth birth class with legitimate information.

You can't just find this anywhere. I would be skeptical of relying solely on free online videos or blog posts. And that doesn't mean that there's not good information and free sources. But chances are that you just aren't going to find all of the info you need that a birth class provides. And definitely not just in one free poster video. I personally read a ton of pregnancy stuff online.

I watched videos and I haven't found anything for you that even came close to covering the stuff I learned in my natural birth class that we invested in. Get the most out of your birth class, I highly suggest that you take your husband or birth partner with you to your birth classes. And if you end up going with an online class, then you can watch or go through the lessons together. You want your birth partner to understand what happens during labor and delivery and to know how to support you. I also suggest you take notes during the class so that you can remember what you learned and review it later. So to do nuts, download and print the Find a good birth class printable, and fill out the sample and discuss with your birth partner which class you'll take and what it is and then sign up and register for a good birth class.

And then when you're ready, you can move on to the next section of this course.