CourtneyIngham

Birthing classes have been shown to provide the birthing mother with: Confidence in your body's innate ability to birth, knowledge regarding the process of birth, strategies for cooping with pain, nutritional information for a healthy pregnancy, and tips for avoiding unnecessary interventions.

Yes, your body absolutely knows how to have a baby! However, we have to be honest about the generations of conditioning we've inherited around our functionality and ideas that "birth is dangerous." Often it isn't until one is giving birth that these false beliefs surface. That's why mental and emotional preparedness makes all the difference! In addition, this course offers information on how to use homeopathy and herbs to support birth, partner-support strategies, relaxation techniques, fear-processing techniques, holistic postpartum and breast-feeding information, and mind-body support tools for emotional and mental preparation, which are not components of all birth classes.

Birthing classes are not the same across the board. If you are interested in natural birth, it is important to opt for a privately taught class that focuses on natural birth techniques. If you are looking for a home birth, for instance, taking classes from someone who has had a home birth makes a huge difference. Classes taught in the hospital prepare you for a hospital birth, and how to be a "good patient." Make sure your values are aligned with your instructor.

We're given 9 months to prepare for birth and it's best to get started as early as possible to start integrating all the support tools. The mind-body pieces in this class are the keys to preparing a solid foundation for birth that create new neural pathways that you'll want in place prior to birth. Therefore, there's no such thing as "too soon."

I recommend every pregnant woman watch the film The Business of Being Born and explore the birth options available to them in their community. Interviewing several midwives is also helpful.