5 Reasons You Should Take a Birth Class Outside the Hospital
At Rooted Birth, we believe that with mindful preparation, you can have a beautiful, empowered birth, no matter what labor brings your way. Whether you are planning a hospital birth, a birth center birth, or a home birth, you are likely wondering about the best way to educate yourself on the process of birth, and what your options are along the way. Here are our top 5 reasons you should seek out an independent birth class.
1. MORE PERSONALIZED
When you choose your own birth class, you have access to a more personalized experience. Want a comprehensive birth class with the option to ask lots of questions? You bet. Want a birth class specifically for home or birth center birth? Done! Want your partner to learn how to be an informed and actionable support person? We got you. The more you connect with your educator, your partner, and the material, the more you will be able to bring knowledge and techniques from your class into your actual birth experience.
2. LESS RESTRICTED CONTENT
One advantage of a hospital-led birth class, is that you will definitely learn the policies of your hospital. However, that may come at a high cost of limited information. Hospital educators are restricted to teaching the curriculum provided by the hospital. It can be difficult to teach expectant parents about comprehensive labor and birthing options when various options are not included in the material. In a birth class that is not affiliated with any one hospital, you receive a much more thorough class! You can also learn how to work with your provider to incorporate parts of your birth plan that aren’t standard for your place of birth. You are also less limited by time constraints and large class sizes, so you can cover more material.
3. FITS YOUR SCHEDULE
Without a doubt, one of the best parts of choosing an independent birth class is the flexibility! Whether you need a self-paced class, mornings, afternoons, evenings, or weekends, we can accommodate! We love that being doulas and childbirth educators frees us up to work outside the time constraints of the normal 9-5. We have options for group classes if you want community with other expectant parents, or private classes if you prefer a more individualized experience.
4. HANDS-ON PRACTICE
In your birth classes, you will learn comfort techniques and positions for labor and birth. When you are familiar with, and have practiced, comfort techniques and labor positions beforehand, your body can access them much more easily in that primal labor state without having to move into your thinking brain to decide what to do next. We also love that partners are involved and can have a whole list of tools in their tool belt to help support you throughout your labor.
5. ACCESS TO YOUR EDUCATOR
Last, but not least, we love that an out of hospital birth class gives you access to your educator beyond the day of the class. Our certified childbirth educators are actually very knowledgeable about the local San Antonio hospitals, birth centers, and home birth midwives, and can help answer questions that may come up as you’re preparing to welcome your baby. They also maintain lists of amazing resources and trusted providers in the San Antonio area and beyond just for you! From lactation consultants to pelvic floor physical therapists and everything in between, we have built relationships with providers we trust to be educated and non-judgmental as they support you through pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.