s/o classes, what did you/will you take?

[626]

I know a lot of people take birthing classes, but I will be having a scheduled c-section so I won't have the typical birthing experience.

I'm wondering if there are other classes that would be beneficial to first time parents.

If you've already had a baby or taken classes, what would you recommend?

If this is your first, what classes do you plan to take?

[nessness]

I took childbirth, and I'm planning to take newborn care. I was originally planning to take a couple more, but I've done enough reading now that I don't feel like I need everything.

[Poppy]

We're doing an online childbirth 101 class that comes with an in-person labor techniques class. We're also doing a breastfeeding class. There are a couple of others we're interested in (newborn care and a newborn first aid class) but we are waiting to see how helpful the labor and BFing classes are before signing up for more.

[theatre4life]

We did a Baby Basics class (which covered feeding, diapering, cleaning, swaddling, etc.) and we did a tour of the hospital.

[linz]

I'm not taking any. I saw my sil give birth and feel good after that. Most of my friends didnt do one and I know H wouldnt want to go. I did plan to read some tips online but havent done that yet.

We are doing a hospital tour though since I'm delivering at a newer hospitals none of my friends have delivered at and I want to see the NICU.

[Blue Moon]

We did a childbirth class which turned out to be mostly useless since I need a csection now, but I'm still glad to have exposed my H to a lot of the information. Most of it I already knew but he was pretty clueless and found it helpful.

We also watched the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD and thought that was really informative as well.

[Deleted]

Childbirth, Breastfeeding, and The Happiest Baby on the Block. 

All three of the classes are offered at the hospital I am delivering at. They do not offer an infant care class, but they review bathing & diapering when we have the baby.

I have already read the Happiest Baby on the Block, and I really enjoyed it. I knew my husband wouldn't read it, so I had planned on ordering the DVD for him. I then found out that our hospital offers it as a 2-hr class and you get a copy of the DVD to take home with you. I think the hands-on class will be especially helpful for my husband, so it is worth the extra cash for us.

[luv2rn4fun]

Childbirth and breastfeeding for now. I am still considering doing a baby care basics as well.

My cousin is an EMT/firefighter who also teaches CPR and has two kids himself. He has offered to do our CPR/safety training at our house.

[ewall]

We are taking the one day childbirth class. Mostly because my H has no clue about birth.

We might take the baby care basics class. Again, my H has never been around a baby.

We took CPR class this week. My H had to get certified for work so I signed up as well to renew my certification.

[vtdiamond]

We are taking a 1 day class that will cover Labor & Delivery comfort measures, breastfeeding and infant care. We've already done a hospital tour. And I have also signed up for a 1 hour 3rd tri class at my OB's office

[Brie]

The first time around, we took a one day birthing class, a breastfeeding class, and an infant care class.

FWIW, I think the birthing class would have been helpful even if I did have a c-section. It talked about what to expect in that situation, pain relief, recovery, etc, as well as vaginal birth.

[rachelgreen]

I want to do hypnobirthing because I am planning on a med free, water birth. The only session they have listed on my hospital's website starts next week though. I just emailed them to see if there would be another session starting after this one.

I'm also contemplating the regular birthing class, breastfeeding class, and the infant care. We already took the hospital tour and the water birth class/tour.

[melsamoony]

I just did a childbirth class but my hospital also offers a c section class. May be useful but Idk since I didn't take it.

[FastHands]

We did childbirth and also infant/child cpr.

I signed up for and paid for a breastfeeding class, which I think would've been the most helpful of all... but I got sent to the hospital to have my baby a few hours before the class. Lol

[rachelgreen]

Aug 28, 2014 13:52:04 GMT -5 AutumnRose25 said:

Aug 28, 2014 12:14:13 GMT -5 linz said:

I'm not taking any. I saw my sil give birth and feel good after that. Most of my friends didnt do one and I know H wouldnt want to go. I did plan to read some tips online but havent done that yet.

We are doing a hospital tour though since I'm delivering at a newer hospitals none of my friends have delivered at and I want to see the NICU.

LOL whut?

I've watched my mechanic work on my car, but that doesn't mean I have any idea of what to do when my engine stops working.

Aug 28, 2014 14:07:05 GMT -5 FastHands said:

We did childbirth and also infant/child cpr.

I signed up for and paid for a breastfeeding class, which I think would've been the most helpful of all... but I got sent to the hospital to have my baby a few hours before the class. Lol

ok both of these made me laugh. I'm sorry but it's true.

[linz]

Aug 28, 2014 13:52:04 GMT -5 AutumnRose25 said:

Aug 28, 2014 12:14:13 GMT -5 linz said:

I'm not taking any. I saw my sil give birth and feel good after that. Most of my friends didnt do one and I know H wouldnt want to go. I did plan to read some tips online but havent done that yet.

We are doing a hospital tour though since I'm delivering at a newer hospitals none of my friends have delivered at and I want to see the NICU.

LOL whut?

I've watched my mechanic work on my car, but that doesn't mean I have any idea of what to do when my engine stops working.

I didn't say it made me a Dr or anything, I just don't see the need in taking a class. Others might find it helpful though.

[christy082]

H and I are signed up for Infant Care, Prepared Childbirth and Breastfeeding classes. We also plan to sign up for CPR class and have our parents (or at least the grandmas who plan to help with childcare) take it as well.

[626]

Aug 28, 2014 14:07:05 GMT -5 FastHands said:

We did childbirth and also infant/child cpr.

I signed up for and paid for a breastfeeding class, which I think would've been the most helpful of all... but I got sent to the hospital to have my baby a few hours before the class. Lol

Haha! How have you been doing?

[azurely]

We are taking the childbirth class through the hospital I'm delivering at. It's six weeks long, and includes a hospital tour, baby care, etc. I'm actually really looking forward to it, but I am an info junkie. I like to know everything I can

We'll be watching the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD too. I was just going to read the book, but I figure I'll have better luck watching with H than having him read it too.

[FastHands]

rachelgreen, we were cracking up abt it on the way to the hospital. The mcd's we hit was in the same shopping center as the class and we were like " I wonder if we can stop by for like a pamphlet or the abridged version of the class..." lol

626, doing really well, thanks!

[estrellita]

We will probably take the childbirth and newborn classes or the labor/newborn class (I need to figure out what the difference is here). There is also a breastfeeding class, but I'm not sure if I want to take that. We'll see. Those are pretty much the only classes offered at the hospital.. the other things listed under the classes and events are car seat checkups and hospital tours (we will probably do both, for sure the tour). I wonder if classes are offered anywhere else?

[sillygoosegirl]

Have or are taking:
Natural childbirth class
Hospital orientation class (our local hospital does this instead of tours)
Breastfeeding and Working (all about pumping, storage, things to make sure your caretaker and bottle do to support BFing when you are at home, etc)

Planning to also take:
Breastfeeding class
Infant CPR class

Not sure if we will take a general infant care class or not.

[rachelgreen]

Aug 28, 2014 15:16:20 GMT -5 FastHands said:

rachelgreen, we were cracking up abt it on the way to the hospital. The mcd's we hit was in the same shopping center as the class and we were like " I wonder if we can stop by for like a pamphlet or the abridged version of the class..." lol

I would have paid money to see your teacher and classmate's faces with that one.

[orangeglow]

We toured the hospital.  I asked if the birthing class would be beneficial at all and the lady was honest and told me that in the like 8-10 hours of class I might get 15-20 mins about a c-section.  I can read that much info online by myself.  And I've had 3 surgeries so I get recoveries pretty well.

Because of my breast reduction I will have a private breastfeeding session with a LC who has dealt with breast issues in hospital and a follow up appt with them.  

We might do a CPR class, but that's it.  We've both had First Aid and CPR training, but it's pretty expired.  

Oh, and we both have much younger siblings (12 and 17 year differences) and we both have been around our BFF's 10 year old since birth.  My nephew is 6 months old as well and I've fed, changed him (and myself) a ton already.  So I know how to feed and care pretty much.  Anything I have questions about I can just look up.

[cowboyjoe]

First time mom here. We are taking the infant CPR class and the child birth class.

I wanted to take the baby boot camp class which covers infant care and breastfeeding, but the next class we can attend is on my due date.

[jewel]

We took: late pregnancy and hospital tour, childbirth, breastfeeding, and infant care. The late pregnancy/hospital tour class was great. The childbirth class was OK, but was a long 9 hours on a Saturday. Breastfeeding was miserable, and the infant care was excellent for my husband, who has never changed a diaper in his life. In general, my husband got a lot more out of all of the classes than I did, because of my experience with babies (as a nanny for many years, and with my little brother, who is 20 years younger), and all of my online research.

[formerlyllizzyb]

I did not take any with my first. I had a scheduled c/s.

I did attend a couple of BFing support group sessions while pg.