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Prenatal Classes
Our two full-day prenatal class series contains the same
content normally taught over our 6 weeknight classes.
We
purposefully set small class sizes to maintain the quality of the
instruction and to facilitate meaningful interactions with our
participants.
The
purpose of our classes is to increase the confidence of both women and
their support persons that birth is a normal, natural process. It
is also an opportunity to inform expectant parents about current
research on related topics so that they can make informed decisions
about their birth and early child care. Participation in prenatal
classes has been known to decrease physical complications during labour
and delivery and also to improve physical and mental health in the
postpartum period.
Class Goals
The primary goals of this
course are to provide couples with the knowledge and motivation they
need to advocate for their childbirth health decisions and to provide
care for their newborn child. This is supported through
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Helping women realize
their inherent abilities to give birth
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Helping women to realize
that giving birth is normal and natural
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Providing current
evidence-based knowledge on childbirth procedures and outcomes
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Helping couples
understand their childbirth options and their role in the childbirth
decision-making process.
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Teaching couples how to
communicate their childbirth decisions to healthcare providers through
verbal and written means
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Providing women with the
skills they need to deal with birthing pain using both
non-pharmacological and pharmacological options.
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Providing information on
post-partum parenting and baby care.
Topics Covered
Through lecture, group discussion, group activities, and the use of videos, the class
will cover the following topics:
Day 1
- Anatomy and physiology
- Stages and phases of labour (recognizing the
signs, etc.)
- Positions for labour
- Relaxation techniques for labour
- Role of the support person/coach
- Pain during childbirth
- Pain medications during labour
- Induction
- Back Labour
- Caesarean births
- Hospital tour (if available)
Day 2
- Appearance of the newborn
- Hospital procedures after birth
- Care of the new mom
- Post-Partum Depression
- Changes in the family
- Care of the newborn
- Diapering
- Bathing
- Handling & settling the newborn
- Breastfeeding
- Experience reports from new parents (if
available)
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