Birthing Classes

arogers470484

To those of you who have delivered before or are planning for delivery, when did you take your birthing classes? The paperwork my midwife gave me said to take the birthing classes around 26 weeks, or later. When looking at the hospital website, they say to take a class that is about 4 weeks prior to your delivery. I'm so confused! What do you all recommend? Thanks!

RedHeather

I don't think it matters all that much. I ended up doing mine very early (around 16 weeks, I think) just because that worked out with my schedule. I used a small hospital that only offers the classes a few times a year, though. Bigger hospitals may be stricter, but personally I liked the idea of doing it early so that I'd be prepared in case I went into labor early. (I ended up delivering at 41 weeks, though, so I would have been fine taking it at 38 weeks, which I think was the next available class that fit with my work schedule.)

JandRVA

We took a birthing class through our hospital and they suggested taking it at the beginning of the third trimester. That way the information was still fresh by the time we delivered but we also had time to practice some of the positions and come up with our game plan. There were some women in the class who were taking it early (I think a couple were at 20 weeks) and one woman who was taking it very late (she was due within 2 weeks of the class) but everyone was welcome. Honestly, our class was worth every penny we spent on it. I feel far more comfortable with the whole process.

merilung

We started our birth class at 33 or 34 weeks and gave birth before it was over, haha! We took a private doula-taught class geared towards first time moms planning an unmedicated birth so the class was not affiliated with any hospital.