Comments on: How to Have a Baby 101

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:59:21 +0000

I absolutely LOVED my Bradley classes and teacher. They were wonderful and I really felt prepared. We took classes one-on-one when we were pregnant with Alex, and they were really awesome. Even though I had the emergency c/s with Bobby and Maya, my Bradley training kept me sane through it all.

By: Betty M

Betty M — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:26:10 +0000

In the UK we tend to do “natural childbirth” classes primarily to meet other mums in our area who are having babies at the same time rather than through any particular desire to avoid drugs.In that way my classes were great – the women I met 6 years ago are still friends although they have nearly all moved to the burbs – for the first 4 years they were my closest friends,

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:24:35 +0000

If you’re looking into Hypnobirthing, looking into Hypnobabies– they also have a home study course.

By: Mo

Mo — Sun, 02 May 2010 19:05:58 +0000

I have hypnobirthing CDs if you want them. You might want to read “the big book of birth,” seeing as you’re a reader and a librarian and all. if you go the hypnobirthing route, I think you mostly meet one on one with the hypnobirthing teacher to learn the inductions and then you practice it on your own.

will you be getting a doula? I can get recs for this too. both labor doulas and postpartum doulas…

…if you want to go REALLY hippy I have a friend in park slope I can hook you up with – more the Ina May childbirth tradition track…

let me know…on all these things…great to see you and the boy on friday night.

By: musicmakermomma

musicmakermomma — Sun, 02 May 2010 14:13:32 +0000

I took a class at the hospital, and I suppose if you were COMPLETELY uninformed, it might have been useful, but I found it a waste of time. Of course, I ended up having a c-section, but still all the things they talked about in the class were things I knew. In NYC they probably have much better offerings! Good luck, and if you don’t want to take the class, don’t.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Sat, 01 May 2010 21:01:14 +0000

I took a general childbirth class and it wasn’t very helpful. If you do research on your own, I don’t think you have to take a class. Especially if it may actually negative affect your birthing experience.

I’m a GIVE ME THE DANG EPIDURAL RIGHT NOW kind of woman, but my hippy-dippy natural birthing friends loved Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, if you are wanting a book recommendation.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 01 May 2010 20:40:19 +0000

I highly recommend the book Birthing From Within. I personally found some of the stuff in there over the top, but the information about birth was amazing. It is the book that helped me prepare for birth the most. I am pregnant with my fourth child and have never taken a childbirth class.

By: Erica Rose

Erica Rose — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:50:21 +0000

Well, at the risk of sounding all hippie flower child on you, you might want to look into Hypnobirthing. There are quite a few birthing videos on youtube of Mom’s using it, and man, they make it look SO easy! I know that we as females have been taught birth is horribly painful, messy, and dirty, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Whatever you choose, I hope you are confident and happy w/ your decision. Oh, and I can’t wait to read the post on it!

By: Good Egg Hunting

Good Egg Hunting — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:33:49 +0000

I wish I could recommend a place in NYC — there is a great chain in the Boston area called Isis Maternity that offers classes, which is where we took ours. It was just one Saturday (though all day) and relatively painless. I’d say the worst part of it was trying to keep a straight face through the ’70s era video showing hairy couples going through the birthing process! Anyway I hope you find an equally painfree class to take — the class definitely shouldn’t add pain to the experience of giving birth….

By: K

Sat, 01 May 2010 16:52:06 +0000

I didn’t do the classes because the spouse had a similar reaction. Most people tell me that the general childbirth classes are a waste, but Im sure hypnobirthing and the bradley method classes are completely worth taking and if I had to do it over I would have gone and MADE Jack go with me! Just my two cents