Pregnancy Survival: 1st Antenatal Class

Mr H and attended our first antenatal class at our local hospital a couple of weeks ago.  Neither of us were overly excited about doing the classes, but figured we had nothing to lose even if we didn't gain anything from them, and they are free so why not make the most of them

There were around 8 couples in our class and we started the session off with a quick introduction round the group and to announce when our babies were due.  There was actually another couple due on the same day as us!

We were then put in small groups to discuss what our baby can do now in the womb.  I thought this was a bit silly and pointless as I didn't think it was particularly relevant for us to know what baby can do now, we were all more interested in what happens during labour and beyond.  I am sure some people may find it helpful to know what their little bean is getting up to in there, but for us this was a total waste of around 45 minutes

We then got down to the nitty gritty and talked about labour from start to finish.  Now when I say labour, we talked about the most perfect one, where baby moves head down into the exact position he or she should come out, with no complications.  But don't worry apparently the later sessions talk about when labour doesn't go to plan and all the different methods for delivery.

We talked about how you know when your in labour, the different stages, signs for partners to look out for and when to go to the hospital.  Some of this was helpful as we went through a few different ways to relax, some things I may not have thought of trying myself

Last on the list for this weeks session was about the hormones release during labour and delivery.  She advised us how we can help to release more of the good hormones and to stop some of the bad ones.  This was interesting but again went on for far too long!  

So all in all I don't think the first class was that great and I came away a little frustrated   I wanted to have learnt a lot more and felt I would have got more out of watching an episode of One Born Every Minute!  That being said I really appreciate the time the staff give up to hold these sessions and the fact that they are free, I think we are very lucky we have these sorts of things available to us in the UK!

We have 2 more classes to attend, one being tonight so hopefully these will be better.  These classes include how to care for your newborn, different types of labour and delivery, different methods of pain relief and how your relationship will change (cringe!)

Have you been to any antenatal classes??  What did you think of them??