In this class we focus on how birth is a normal, natural process.  We also help you identify how you want to experience birth and how best to make that happen. 

Parents who've taken the course in the past have had a wide range of goals:

• Some moms wanted to learn how to work with the pain of childbirth; others to feel as little of it as possible with pain medication. 
  
• Some moms primarily "wanted just to survive birth without going crazy"; others wanted to "have a good, life-changing and affirming experience".
  
• And, as one birth partner put it, "I have skin in the game -- I want to help make her as comfortable as possible during labor and delivery." 
  

The atmosphere was comfortable and easy-going -- very nice. 
-- Birth Partner

Specifically, you'll learn more about:

• The stages of labor and birth;
• The Six Care Practices that will make labor and childbirth healthier, easier, and safer for you and your baby;
• Increasing comfort and progress while decreasing pain and fatigue;
• How to help labor progress and stay effective if complications arise;
• Natural and medical pain relief options; and
  
• New baby/mom/partner care.

Classes are structured around helping you and your partner figure out more of what you would like.  We have a lot of time for you and your partner to ask any questions or share any thoughts.  Any questions at any time -- I respond to questions when you ask them, not just when they might fit into a planned discussion later.

Class time is spent on discussions, activities, mini-lectures, DVD and video viewings, and practicing massage and relaxation.  Specifically, here is an outline of what we cover each meeting.

Throughout the class we focus on Lamaze's Six Practices for Healthy Birth, which help most women have more comfortable, more effective labors and easier births.  (Yes, it is possible!)  These Healthy Birth Practices are: 

1. Let your baby and your body begin birth
   
2. Move freely as you feel like it throughout labor
3. Get continuous labor support
4. Consent only to necessary interventions -- no routine interventions
5. Push when and how you feel the need from any upright or side-lying position
6. Have your baby on you immediately for baby-led breastfeeding
   

Again, most moms can use these practices most of the time to make the births of their children healthier, easier, and safer.  In class we discuss situations when using these practices might help and when you might not be able to use them. 

These practices are also evidenced-based, meaning that there is excellent research backing them up.  For more on this research, A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth is an excellent resource.  It is available free here -- just click on the Guide under the For Women column heading on the left side of the homepage. 

So, you decide if this class might help you out.  If you do decide to take this course, you'll get a lot out of it!