child birth classes??

Hi;

So, I was reading on the matter of child birth classes & to tell yu the
truth, I wasn't comfortable with any of the different types of schools
of thought/teachings.

I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called). I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )

So, I need recommendations on what kind of child birth class I should go
to. I don't a type that makes me feel that it's unnatural to be scared
of pain or that I am supposed to go all natural. I want a simple class
that deals with people like me.

Also, does anyone think that maybe during labor it won't be as scary as
it seems now? I mean, my husband is gonna be there with me (which for me
is big time security & comfort). Need opinions of people who've been
through this (labor that is) or heard of labor stories.

Advises on how to overcome my fear of labor would be real appreciated.

Sorry for being such a sissy & a fearful little kid.

Mona
due 07-31-04

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:12:18 GMT, zolw wrote:

I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called). I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )

So long as you know the risks and you are happy with the decision...
just be aware that even though you want you, you might not get one. I
know there are several mothers on here who wanted one, but labor was
going too fast or they were too close to delivering for one.

So, I need recommendations on what kind of child birth class I should go
to. I don't a type that makes me feel that it's unnatural to be scared
of pain or that I am supposed to go all natural. I want a simple class
that deals with people like me.

I would go to the one that the hospital offers. Mine was very simple.
It explained pain relief and hospital procedures (including
c-section). Nothing was there to make you think that you had to go
all natural. Mine was in Australia, but I would think that yours
would be similar.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan and Leopold
See Jayan and Leo: http://www.aloofhosting.com/jayleo/
Updated 28 Feb 2004

I did not go to any childbirth classes but I kind of wish that I had. Even
if you are not going to use the advice that they give it may be a good idea
to take a pain management type class.


Tori
PS. I am planning on doing an Epidural as well this time
"zolw" wrote in message
news:Cub3c.506950$I06.5455340@attbi_s01...
Hi;

So, I was reading on the matter of child birth classes & to tell yu the
truth, I wasn't comfortable with any of the different types of schools
of thought/teachings.

I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called). I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )

So, I need recommendations on what kind of child birth class I should go
to. I don't a type that makes me feel that it's unnatural to be scared
of pain or that I am supposed to go all natural. I want a simple class
that deals with people like me.

Also, does anyone think that maybe during labor it won't be as scary as
it seems now? I mean, my husband is gonna be there with me (which for me
is big time security & comfort). Need opinions of people who've been
through this (labor that is) or heard of labor stories.

Advises on how to overcome my fear of labor would be real appreciated.

Sorry for being such a sissy & a fearful little kid.

Mona
due 07-31-04

Well, correct me if I am wrong, but I also thought that in these child
birth classes, they teach you how to breath, relax, push etc in a way
that would help during delivery.

Just cause I don't want to learn about how to have a "painful" delivery,
doesn't mean that I can't learn more about how to cope with
contractions, etc.



Elfanie wrote:

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:12:18 GMT, zolw wrote:



I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called). I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )



Forgive my ignorance...but...

what do you need a class for?

If you already know what decisions you're going to make, you don't
want to know the risks or alternatives for those decisions, you say
you want a class but don't want them to teach you things....then why
do you want to take a class?


Stephanie Soderblom CLD CCCE CD(DONA) ICD
Mesa, AZ
Mommy to Mikael 5/9/95 - Kerstyn 8/6/99 - and Kevin 8/30/02
Student Midwife
Birth Doula / Childbirth Educator / Pregnancy and Birth Photography

http://www.birthdiaries.com - Birth Story Diaries=REAL BIRTHS = REAL PHOTOS

I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called). I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )


Well, first off you need to be aware that you are not going to be able to get
an epidural, or any other meds, right away. There is going to be a vaiable
period of time (dpending on your labor and how it progresses, it could be as
little as just a couple of hours, or as much as several days), when you are
going to have to cope with the contractions without help from drugs. So, I
think, if you are afraid of pain/labor, it makes it all the more important
that you take a class that will help you understand what is going to happen and
give you a good assortment of tools to deal with it.

Without knowing the options available where you are it's hard to know what to
recommend. I wouldn't go with Bradley, since they generally are geared towards
a drug-free delivery. But a hospital based class, or a lamaze class might be
what you are looking for.

I'd also advise you to just do a lot of reading. Knowlege is power. Learn how
labor works, what contractions are; get a sense (as much as you can without
actually experiencing them) of what they will feel like. Realize that labor is
not just one long endless pain, but intermittent contractions with long
pan-free breaks in between them.

Also, does anyone think that maybe during labor it won't be as scary as
it seems now?

Well... that dpends on you, I think. If you spend the next 5 months convinced
that labor is going to be a torture session that you will only be able to
endure with lots of drugs ... it WILL be a torture session that you will find
unendurable without drugs. If you can work on believing that labor is
something that women have gotten through for millenia, and that medication has
only been available for about the last 150 years ... (and for most women, only
for about the pat 100 years), and that, while drugs are available SHOULD you
want or need them, but you may find that you don't at all -- you will probably
find labor to be much easier.



Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)

zolw wrote:

Hi;

So, I was reading on the matter of child birth classes & to tell yu the
truth, I wasn't comfortable with any of the different types of schools
of thought/teachings.

I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called).


It's called epidural anesthesia. It's not really a
shot. It means that they'll use a needle to insert a cathether
into the epidural space of your spinal column. After the
needle is withdrawn, the catheter remains and is used to administer
drugs (typically an anesthetic and a narcotic) into the epidural space.

I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )

So, I need recommendations on what kind of child birth class I should go
to. I don't a type that makes me feel that it's unnatural to be scared
of pain or that I am supposed to go all natural. I want a simple class
that deals with people like me.


There are two basic things you go to a childbirth
class for (well, other than the fun of seeing a bunch of
other folks in the same straits you are ;-) First, you
get information on how the process works and what you
can expect, perhaps including some discussion of your
options along the way (e.g., "You can do X, Y, or Z at
this point. If you do X, then A is likely to follow" etc.).
Second, you can get information on how to deal with labor
pain. Most classes will cover the former, though I think
few are actually good at laying out the chains of cause
and effect. Classes vary in the techniques they'll discuss
for dealing with labor pain.
Honestly, my recommendation to you is to go with
a class that will teach you *useful* ways to cope with
unmedicated labor. Sure, maybe the teacher or students
will be promoting unmedicated labor, but you don't have
to tell them what you plan, and if you don't tell them,
then what are they going to do about it? I don't think
*any* decent class expects that no one will be scared by
the prospect of labor. Plenty of people who want an
unmedicated labor are scared of the thought.
The reason you want a class that teaches
effective ways to deal with an unmedicated labor is that
it's possible that you'll end up with one even though you
want an epidural. I don't want to scare you further, but
there are things that can prevent your getting an effective
epidural. Your labor might go too fast. Your labor
might be challenging before you're far enough along to
get an epidural. The anesthesiologist(s) might be
busy with emergencies when you want your epidural.
You might not be a good candidate for an epidural for
a variety of reasons. You might get an epidural and
it might not provide complete relief (about 20 percent
of epidurals provide incomplete relief, to some degree
or other). If any of these things happens to you, the
last thing you want is to be stranded without *ANY*
coping techniques! Even if it means sitting through
a class that is geared towards somewhat different
priorities, that's a heck of a lot better than going
to a class that doesn't teach you anything useful
because everyone plans on getting an epidural!


Also, does anyone think that maybe during labor it won't be as scary as
it seems now? I mean, my husband is gonna be there with me (which for me
is big time security & comfort). Need opinions of people who've been
through this (labor that is) or heard of labor stories.


Sure it can be less scary! The unknown is often
scarier than the real thing when it happens, particularly
if you've been plied with horror stories (which most of
us have been). My personal theory is that dealing with
labor pain has precious little to do with one's tolerance
for pain or anything like that. If you have great support
(few do) and a great environment (few do) and caregivers
who are skilled at supporting unmedicated labors (few are),
most women can handle most labors just fine. Unfortunately,
most women are in environments that are not conducive
to handling labor pain well, nor do they have people
supporting them who know much about supporting unmedicated
labors. So, naturally, most end up opting for an epidural
because they don't have access to other good options.
Personally, I've had three unmedicated labors
(all quite different). They were challenging, but I
did not find them scary when they happened. They were
eminently tolerable. However, I had excellent support
and my environment was ideal for me. I think I would
have found my labors significantly more painful under
different circumstances--and who knows? I might have
opted for pain meds in that case.
(I should say that I do NOT mean to imply that
anyone who's had an epidural just didn't plan well.
There are certainly women who have very difficult
labors, and there are certainly women who have very
limited options to improve their environment or
support.)
Anyway, my point is that no matter how much
of a "sissy" you think you might be, I do believe that
if you *want*, you can educate yourself and make
choices about your birth and caregivers that will
give you very good odds of being able to have an
unmedicated birth without it being a scary experience.
And, given that I believe that, I certainly think that
you can choose a situation in which you can have a
medicated birth that isn't overwhelmingly scary!
(Actually, "scary" is different for different people,
too. To me, it's much more scary to contemplate a
needle in my spine than it is to contemplate giving
birth, but I understand that others feel differently.)


Advises on how to overcome my fear of labor would be real appreciated.


Stop reading or allowing others to tell you
horror stories. Read nice birth stories. Learn
to have faith in yourself and your body. Recognize,
deal with, and let go of any personal baggage.


Sorry for being such a sissy & a fearful little kid.


Hey, an awful lot of women begin their pregnancies
this way, but you know what? We all end up mommies in
the end, and mommies are strong! We have to be to protect
our babies, and there is nothing we won't do or go through
for them. You'll do the same when it's your turn.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka;

Thank you so much for the advise. I think you are right. Maybe it is a
much better idea to be prepared for the worse, even if I get to choose
the easy way out. MY husband keeps telling me that everyday women give
birth & that it must be much less scary than I imagine it, but I hear
him, I just don't believe him )

To tell you the truth, I haven't heard any real horrible stories about
labor. I just watched a delivery video & it frightened me. How can such
a big thing come out of such a small thing? Maybe during labor I will be
in a completely different state of mind.

I am looking forward to going to child birth class. I am hoping that by
educating myself more about labor, I may become less fearful. Also, I
should be prepared (like you said) for the worse case senario.

Thank you once more for the supporting words. I am scared, but I still
have some brain to realize that you make a whole lot of sense.

Mona



Ericka Kammerer wrote:

zolw wrote:

Hi;

So, I was reading on the matter of child birth classes & to tell yu
the truth, I wasn't comfortable with any of the different types of
schools of thought/teachings.

I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural
shot (or whatever it is called).



It's called epidural anesthesia. It's not really a
shot. It means that they'll use a needle to insert a cathether
into the epidural space of your spinal column. After the
needle is withdrawn, the catheter remains and is used to administer
drugs (typically an anesthetic and a narcotic) into the epidural space.

I will take as much medication as the doctor will allow me. I have no
tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain is one of my few
obsticles in life )

So, I need recommendations on what kind of child birth class I should
go to. I don't a type that makes me feel that it's unnatural to be
scared of pain or that I am supposed to go all natural. I want a
simple class that deals with people like me.



There are two basic things you go to a childbirth
class for (well, other than the fun of seeing a bunch of
other folks in the same straits you are ;-) First, you
get information on how the process works and what you
can expect, perhaps including some discussion of your
options along the way (e.g., "You can do X, Y, or Z at
this point. If you do X, then A is likely to follow" etc.).
Second, you can get information on how to deal with labor
pain. Most classes will cover the former, though I think
few are actually good at laying out the chains of cause
and effect. Classes vary in the techniques they'll discuss
for dealing with labor pain.
Honestly, my recommendation to you is to go with
a class that will teach you *useful* ways to cope with
unmedicated labor. Sure, maybe the teacher or students
will be promoting unmedicated labor, but you don't have
to tell them what you plan, and if you don't tell them,
then what are they going to do about it? I don't think
*any* decent class expects that no one will be scared by
the prospect of labor. Plenty of people who want an
unmedicated labor are scared of the thought.
The reason you want a class that teaches
effective ways to deal with an unmedicated labor is that
it's possible that you'll end up with one even though you
want an epidural. I don't want to scare you further, but
there are things that can prevent your getting an effective
epidural. Your labor might go too fast. Your labor
might be challenging before you're far enough along to
get an epidural. The anesthesiologist(s) might be
busy with emergencies when you want your epidural.
You might not be a good candidate for an epidural for
a variety of reasons. You might get an epidural and
it might not provide complete relief (about 20 percent
of epidurals provide incomplete relief, to some degree
or other). If any of these things happens to you, the
last thing you want is to be stranded without *ANY*
coping techniques! Even if it means sitting through
a class that is geared towards somewhat different
priorities, that's a heck of a lot better than going
to a class that doesn't teach you anything useful
because everyone plans on getting an epidural!


Also, does anyone think that maybe during labor it won't be as scary
as it seems now? I mean, my husband is gonna be there with me (which
for me is big time security & comfort). Need opinions of people who've
been through this (labor that is) or heard of labor stories.



Sure it can be less scary! The unknown is often
scarier than the real thing when it happens, particularly
if you've been plied with horror stories (which most of
us have been). My personal theory is that dealing with
labor pain has precious little to do with one's tolerance
for pain or anything like that. If you have great support
(few do) and a great environment (few do) and caregivers
who are skilled at supporting unmedicated labors (few are),
most women can handle most labors just fine. Unfortunately,
most women are in environments that are not conducive
to handling labor pain well, nor do they have people
supporting them who know much about supporting unmedicated
labors. So, naturally, most end up opting for an epidural
because they don't have access to other good options.
Personally, I've had three unmedicated labors
(all quite different). They were challenging, but I
did not find them scary when they happened. They were
eminently tolerable. However, I had excellent support
and my environment was ideal for me. I think I would
have found my labors significantly more painful under
different circumstances--and who knows? I might have
opted for pain meds in that case.
(I should say that I do NOT mean to imply that
anyone who's had an epidural just didn't plan well.
There are certainly women who have very difficult
labors, and there are certainly women who have very
limited options to improve their environment or
support.)
Anyway, my point is that no matter how much
of a "sissy" you think you might be, I do believe that
if you *want*, you can educate yourself and make
choices about your birth and caregivers that will
give you very good odds of being able to have an
unmedicated birth without it being a scary experience.
And, given that I believe that, I certainly think that
you can choose a situation in which you can have a
medicated birth that isn't overwhelmingly scary!
(Actually, "scary" is different for different people,
too. To me, it's much more scary to contemplate a
needle in my spine than it is to contemplate giving
birth, but I understand that others feel differently.)


Advises on how to overcome my fear of labor would be real appreciated.



Stop reading or allowing others to tell you
horror stories. Read nice birth stories. Learn
to have faith in yourself and your body. Recognize,
deal with, and let go of any personal baggage.


Sorry for being such a sissy & a fearful little kid.



Hey, an awful lot of women begin their pregnancies
this way, but you know what? We all end up mommies in
the end, and mommies are strong! We have to be to protect
our babies, and there is nothing we won't do or go through
for them. You'll do the same when it's your turn.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Elfanie wrote:

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:12:18 GMT, zolw wrote:



I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called). I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )



Forgive my ignorance...but...

what do you need a class for?

If you already know what decisions you're going to make, you don't
want to know the risks or alternatives for those decisions, you say
you want a class but don't want them to teach you things....then why
do you want to take a class?

There's more to childbirth classes than pain management, too.
It's very worthwhile to go into it with an understanding of
the process of labor and delivery, what the hospital's policies
are etc. I can imagine that if any complications arose, it
could make a scary experience that much worse if one didn't
have a general road map of what was going on to start from.

To the OP: For these reasons, I agree with others that you
probably want to opt for the hospital's own class. And, as
others have said, you'll want some pain management for before
you can get the epidural, or in case you can't for some reason.
Finally, I think you might well find that it's not so scary
when it's actually happening, and that you are quite proud
of and pleased with what you body can do. I also think it will
be easier to feel this way if you have some idea of what to
expect of the process of labor & delivery.

Another idea for preparation: You might want to read other
people's birth stories (posted in this group -- you can look
through google for old ones; there are also plenty of collections
online). That is another good source of information to get
your bearings...

--
Emily
mom to Toby 5/1/02
Scheherazade, stillborn at 20 weeks, 3/2/04

zolw wrote:

To tell you the truth, I haven't heard any real horrible stories about
labor. I just watched a delivery video & it frightened me. How can such
a big thing come out of such a small thing? Maybe during labor I will be
in a completely different state of mind.

Hi again Mona,

Don't be scared by what it looked like. You won't have to see
Seriously, I think if you read (nice) birth stories, you'll get
a better sense of what it's like from the mom's point of view. Also,
don't worry about the actual birth canal. That's not the hard
part (in my experience): the hard part is the contractions which
open up the cervix. The birth canal part is trivial (again, IME).

--
Emily
mom to Toby 5/1/02
Scheherazade, stillborn at 20 weeks, 3/2/04

"Daye" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:12:18 GMT, zolw wrote:

I am a sissy! There I came out with it. ) I will get an epidural shot
(or whatever it is called). I will take as much medication as the doctor
will allow me. I have no tolerance for pain & just the thought of pain
is one of my few obsticles in life )

So long as you know the risks and you are happy with the decision...
just be aware that even though you want you, you might not get one. I
know there are several mothers on here who wanted one, but labor was
going too fast or they were too close to delivering for one.

So, I need recommendations on what kind of child birth class I should go
to. I don't a type that makes me feel that it's unnatural to be scared
of pain or that I am supposed to go all natural. I want a simple class
that deals with people like me.

I would go to the one that the hospital offers. Mine was very simple.
It explained pain relief and hospital procedures (including
c-section). Nothing was there to make you think that you had to go
all natural. Mine was in Australia, but I would think that yours
would be similar.

I just want to second what Daye said. I planned to have an epidural, and
took the classes that the hospital offered, which outlined everything from
conception (although I would have thought most of us would already have been
pretty well versed in that grin) through the various birth options and
procedures, through diapering (which was excellent, as I hadn't diapered a
baby since 1983. I remembered being floored that diapers had VELCRO on them
now. snicker) The overview you'll get of the different pain management
techniques, including handling natural childbirth, will be at worst, a good
education. If you end up needing some of those techniques, so much the
better.

Anyway, just a "me too" post, seconding Daye's opinion.

Donna