Childbirth Classes
(c) 2010 Better Birth & Beyond, LLC. All rights reserved.
I offer private classes in your home and around your schedule. The focus is on normal, instinctual birth. This translates
into learning how to optimize your health as well as increase your knowledge on how your body and baby are designed to give birth
so you can have confidence to allow your own birth to unfold as it needs to.
Classes are evidence based and presented as a powerpoint
presentation on my laptop. A PDF notebook full of information, research, graphics, and stories is included. Each class
is taught to your educational needs and tailored to your chosen birth place and type of birth - hospital, birth center, homebirth,
VBAC, etc.
Fees:
$200 - Childbirth Education (3 sessions, also for VBAC)
$255 - Childbirth Education + Breastfeeding & Early
Parenting (4 sessions)
$145 - Refresher Course (2 sessions, also for VBAC)
$85 - Refresher Course (1 session)
$85 -
Breastfeeding & Early Parenting (1 session)
Nutrition and Exercise are extremely important for a healthy pregnancy, birth, and baby. I have been teaching prenatal nutrition
for many years with astounding results in my clients. Worries that can be practically eliminated by eating properly and exercising
include pre-term birth, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, GBS transmission, and the water breaking prior to active labor.
When these common problems are prevented... induction, augmentation and cesarean risk go down to less than 10%.
Class 1 - Prenatal Prevention
Mind Over Labor: The focus in most childbirth classes is about reducing pain externally. By continuously watching women in labor,
I have found that laboring is more mental than physical. Your hormones and instincts, if allowed, will take you through
your labor smoothly. On the other hand, fear and adrenaline can cause havoc. Learn how important it is to build your confidence
and be able to loose your inhibitions so your mind and body can work as one.
Optimal Fetal Positioning: The position of your baby in your pelvis plays a big role in the intensity and length of your labor.
Lifestyle changes in the last 30 years have made it increasingly harder for babies to settle into the pelvis properly. Shorten
your labor and reduce your risk for induction, augmentation and cesarean birth by learning how to get your baby into the optimal
fetal position.
Class 3 - Medical Intervention
Communicate With Your Careprovider: The most important job for the labor partner is to protect the mom's birthing environment.
A large part of doing so is learning how to communicate with her care provider to ensure she is getting individualized care and support,
which is not common among hospital births that are based on routine care for a mass number of women.
First Do No Harm: Medical
intervention, when indicated, can be life-saving, however when used as routine it is almost always more harmful than helpful.
Learn the difference between "routine" and "medically necessary".
Class 4 - Breastfeeding & Newborn Needs
Routine Newborn Procedures are gone over so you can decide what is best for your baby immediately after birth.
Birth Preferences
(Plan): I will guide you through making your birth plan utilizing a template designed by L&D nurses and midwives.
This part of the class stresses the need for a "goal" to be set (you can't reach a goal if you don't have one) along with the understanding
that flexability is necessary in regards to both normal and medical models of birth.
Breastmilk is the best food you can give your baby... and it's free! Challenges that often come up in the first few weeks can
be combated with knowledge, confidence, and support. Learn the basics of breastfeeding by understanding how your body, breasts,
and milk flow work by watching videos and practicing different holds during class. You will also learn how to prevent problems
such as mastitis, clogged ducts, and yeast infections.
Labor Partners will learn how to protect the mom's environment and support her needs throughout labor.
DVDs full of normal births,
women birthing in their own way, are lent out for viewing at your discretion and discussed during the next class.
Pain Management: Women have several choices in regards to pain management. Learn the real benefits, risks, and alternatives
to those choices.
Assisted Delivery consists of forceps, vacuum, and cesarean. Learn how to prevent these situations, what increases your risk
and when they are necessary.
Induction starts with intervention, attempting to force the body into the process of birth. Induction
has many risks and should only be used when medically indicated. Learn how to prevent the need for an induction as well as how
to minimize the side effects if you really need one.
Postpartum Plan: Becoming a "hostess" to friends and family in the first 3 weeks after birth is all too common in our culture.
Learn how to utilize your company so they can help you with your daily duties (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc) which will allow you
and your baby to rest, bond, and establish breastfeeding.
Going Back To Work is a reality for most mothers. Learn how to pump, freeze, and continue to breastfeed after returning to work.
Baby Wearing is not a want, but rather a need for your newborn. Conducive to successful breastfeeding, current research also
finds that keeping your baby close will help him/her to develop quicker emotionally and physically. Learn how to incorporate
baby wearing into your lifestyle.
Baby and Daddy Time are important too. With mom and baby together most of the time for feedings, dads often feel left out. After
a long day at work, many dads often come home during the fussiest time of the day for thier little one. Learn how to bond and
have special "daddy only" quality time with your baby.
Cloth Diapering... better for the environment, is less expensive than disposable diapers and can be fun! This section is included,
but done by request only. A demonstration including different diaper brands, styles, and systems can be done at the end of class.
The Power of Birth: Learn how your body works from the inside out. Nature has incorporated a host of "safety nets" for your
baby throughout labor. Because routine intervention has become the new normal.... many couples are surprised to find out that
their OB may know very little about the natural process of birth. In order to know when to use medical intervention
as a tool it is essential for you to first understand how it may interfere with the body's unique conversation between the brain,
the mother and the baby to keep everyone safe.
Better Birth & Beyond, LLC
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