We had our first Bradley Method class yesterday afternoon. Our sessions started early due to the holidays. Our instructor condenses the classes into 8 weekly meetings that usually run 8 weeks in a row. Due to the holidays, we'll have two classes this month, two classes next month, three in January, and the last one in February.
Eight sessions of 2.5 hours each = 20 hours of childbirth instruction. That's a lot of talking about childbirth! I learned yesterday, however, that we'll not only talk about childbirth, relaxation techniques, and all those typical things, but we'll also discuss nutrition, exercise, breastfeeding, and newborn care.
Eight sessions of 2.5 hours each = 20 hours of childbirth instruction. That's a lot of talking about childbirth! I learned yesterday, however, that we'll not only talk about childbirth, relaxation techniques, and all those typical things, but we'll also discuss nutrition, exercise, breastfeeding, and newborn care.
Our instructor is the local childbirth guru. In addition to teaching Bradley classes, she is also a Doula, a Doula trainer, and a lactation consultant. As she put it, childbirth is her business! And she had lots of fun props, like these:
Of the seven couples in our class, five are giving birth at the local Birth Center, and it was nice to not feel like we were in the minority for once. One couple giving birth there even has our same due date! Yesterday's class was pretty introductory, though we did get into a few relaxation techniques and she gave the partners some good tips and tricks for pressure point pain relief. Part of our homework for next week is that the non-pregnant partners get a massage every night. Mr. Citysaur really liked that assignment! Oh, and did I mention we have two workbooks full of information?! I'll be doing most of the reading, since Mr. Citysaur is pretty busy with his four graduate classes on top of working full-time. I'm lucky I got enough of his time to attend the classes.
We had our first Bradley Class last Saturday. We're doing a mini-crash course...two sessions, four hours each. It's us and two other couples...one of the couples are a nurse/doctor that will deliver where they work. I thought that was very interesting and potentially weird, especially since, in essence, they're saying "we don't agree with all of your protocols."
ReplyDeleteAh well, it was nice to have their perspective in addition to the instructor's who will also be our doula. I am delivering in a hospital and worried that they will totally dismiss our birth plan. I am hoping the doula will help with that aspect, in additon to providing support to me and my husband. We're enjoying practicing our Bradley techniques...epecially the stages of labor and relaxation stuff.