Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Bedrest and childbirth education

Quick question:
For those of you who survived bedrest and still had the option of a vaginal birth, how did you educate yourself about the birth process? Books? Videos? Did you eventually attend a class?

I would love to think a vaginal birth is still in the cards for me... But I am a first-timer... and clueless.

5 comments:

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

I'm a maternal/child nurse and you can just call your hospital childbirth educator to get what you need. They have DVDs and some online classes available. Good luck, please contact me for questions. msakelley at gmail dot com Thank you, Best Wishes, and I hope this helps.

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

I forgot, some childbirth educators will make housecalls. Take care, you and Roomie Totally Rock!

sara said...

I wonder if there are any on Netflix? I know that sounds funny - but I wonder, I'll have to glance through the "special interest" section. If I find anything that looks like it might work - I'll let you know.

Heather Moore said...

I had a vaginal delivery and breastfed for 14m without any hospital prepping.

I was able to take a 45m breastfeeding course the day before Andrew was born thru a private Lactation Consultant - which I HIGHLY recommend. Otherwise, you have to be in the hospital for hours on end for a BFing class and that's not needed. You'll have all sorts of help from your nurses and LCs in the hospital (if you're planning on BFing that is). Also, most insurance companies (although yours sounds like a gem...HA!) pay for Lactation visits.

As far as the birthing process goes I felt totally prepared even though I didn't take any classes. I had an epidural and labored for DAYS! My damn cervix decided to hold up like steel and not cave in. I went in on a Wednesday at 11a and delivered at 8p on Friday. My nurses and docs were fabulous about explaining everything and pushing is something that no one can tell you what will be like exactly and when it comes to that you'll just know what to do.

May said...

The hospital had some pretty funny eighties-era videos for us to watch. Mostly, though, I talked to the labor and delivery nurses who were perpetually being floated up to the perinatal floor. And I knew I was very open to an epidural, which takes care of most of the necessary educating right there. Once that sucker was in, I just listened to the nurses and my OB and that baby came flying out. I joke that I was in labor for "12 weeks and 2 pushes."