Are birthing classes necessary?

I did not take one, & I do not regret it! Save the extra money for stuff needed for the baby. Plus, pretty much everything you need to know is online. They didn't have birthing classes back in the older days, & people had babies just fine.

The Paramedic course teaches very little about childbirth if you actually look at the curriculum nor are there coaching or preparation issues discussed. Very few Paramedics will ever deliver a baby and most will never be allowed to observe in L&D during their training. It is basically taught as just a task with the minimum to get the baby stabilized to the best of their ability and quickly to a hospital.

Experiences of other people are good but you get alot of hearsay or they have left out some of the details that might be important because they don't care to remember or share them.

As a medical profession, it should be your own individual experience with the guidance of someone who is trained to give you advice throughout the time leading up to the birth. Making it a personal experience with someone right there to answer your questions is much better than learning something so intimate and special off the internet.

You will find many health care professionals including physicians who are looking forward to becoming parents for the first time. Your husband needs to disassociate himself from being a Paramedic and concentrate on being a father and husband. This shouldn't be just another procedure taught by protocol in an EMS book for your own personal experience.

What is necessary is reading a good book and practicing at home. Giving birth is actually a skill to learn, like swimming. If you don't know how, you will get uterine cramps and extreme pain. If you have contractions without cramps, it probably will only be a moderate, dull ache. I have had four natural births using the Bradley method. I practiced daily for over two months. It really does work. Look for the book, Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. I've heard that hypnobirthing is also good.

Just as people have lost the instinctive ability to be able to swim without learning how, they have also lost the instinctive ability to be able to give birth properly without learning how.

My husband took a picture of me during a contraction in transition. It looked just like I was sleeping. The Bradley method really does work.

The generic birthing classes aren't going to teach you anything you can't get yourself from a book. The more specific classes like Lamaze or Bradley will give you more, but again, it's definitely not necessary. I read a couple books and delivered natural twice. No, I don't feel the classes are necessary. You have the fear of the unknown thing going on. Perfectly normal.

I have had three babies, and have taken Childbirth Classes for all of them, and found them very useful.

Think of it like driving a car - you could learn to drive by watching someone else, listening to people talk about driving a car, but but until you drive yourself you really don't know, and if there were classes to teach you how to do it well, wouldn't you want to learn all you could?

I'd say, take the Classes - you'll never regret taking them, but if you don't, you might regret that!

Plus, it is a great place to network with other mothers-to-be - our Pre-Natal Class still exchanges phone calls and pictures, and we're planning a "15th Birthday Reunion" for our children next year.

Don't miss out on any wonderful experiences that come your way!

Every hospital and doctor does things a little differently. You may have a ton of generalized knowledge as to how it all works but no knowledge as to how your specific doctor or hospitals does things. You assume they offer epidurals? do they? you assume family can come in for the birth? Do they allow it and if so, how many can come in? Do they have birthing rooms where you labor and deliver or do you labor in one room and deliver in another?

Some say "ignorance is bliss" but I do not agree. Take the classes.

I took a prenatal class as well as a breast feeding class with my 1st son but decided not to with my 2nd. I wish I had taken it again (at least just the breast feeding class) because I couldn't believe how much information I forgot over a 2 year span.

Good Luck!

I took 2 different ones with my oldest and it proved to be a total waste of time. You body will take over and do what it is supposed to do. My husband is a doctor and he told me it was a waste but I wanted to do everything right. He's and ob and said your body will do what it wants and the more you fight it the harder and more painful it will be. He was right. DON'T tell him I said that. Needless to say with our second I didn't take one.

I took them and with all the research I did I feel it was a waste... Maybe it will be better for you everyone is diffrent... Good luck and congrats!!!!