Online childbirth classes vs. in person?

March 13, 2018 7:10 PM

Is it really worth it to go to a childbirth class in person instead of online? If you did the online version, did you like it and do you have a provider who you'd recommend?

I've signed up for the traditional in person childbirth class, then got bumped out of the class in favor of some doctors, who I guess need to be trained or something. I don't know whether I'd like to reschedule, or if I should just find an online course and get a refund.

I know that to a certain extent this is a person-by-person decision. The in-person course in question lasts for 5.5 hours. I suspect that if I go, I will sit silently in the back of the room, enjoy other people's questions, get sort of burned out by hour four, then go home and google whatever burning questions I might have that weren't answered during the course. I've had a pretty straightforward pregnancy with no particular issues or concerns with childbirth. I'm not looking for any special interventions or anything that might require me to speak to a healthcare provider--my OBGYN is on her game concerning my specific medical needs.

posted by _cave to Education (19 answers total)

When this was me, Mr. Blah's schedule meant it wasn't possible to attend the class. We heard through the grapevine that the teacher would do it privately in our home. It was soooo much better that way. We just sat around and gabbed, basically, and as she brought up each topic, I could sort of indicate if it was something I wanted to delve deeper into, or skip, or just go quickly through. I actually got a lot out of it, and felt that it was one of the most positive pre-birth things I did. Also IIRC we did two shorter sessions rather than one longer.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:38 PM on March 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

What I got out of it more than anything was the social connections with other parents. I went to a weekly thing for a month or two. It was so good to be with other people and to make some friends who were all giving birth around the same time. Some of us ended up getting to know one another after.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 7:57 PM on March 13, 2018 [4 favorites]

My in-person class was at the hospital I was going to deliver at; I don't think being in-person would have had much point otherwise ... and frankly I could schedule a private tour at my leisure so *shrug*
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:03 PM on March 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

Echoing that this is a place to meet people. And soon enough you will need people.
posted by k8t at 8:07 PM on March 13, 2018

The meeting people aspect is less important if it's only one long class. We did an in person full day class, and while we did become Facebook friends with one other couple, I wouldn't say the class was such a great friend making opportunity. It would likely be different if the class met for an hour each week though, as you'd have time to get familiar with people, perhaps chat after class etc.
posted by peacheater at 8:32 PM on March 13, 2018

Our in person antenatal course was pretty good. The infant CPR was especially useful, as they taught blockage/choke clearing which we ended up doing a couple of times with our son when he was very small. It turned into a coffee group for the women that went on for a year or more, and I think that was of some benefit to my wife in the very early days.
posted by The Monkey at 8:35 PM on March 13, 2018

I would have killed for an online option when I was pregnant with my first. It's been almost 30 years and I still remember how much I dreaded those classes. Despite being intensely interested in the subject, I found the classes deathly boring, e.g., all the stuff I had been reading about for months was covered as if I this were everyone's introduction to the topic. Also included a dash of "woo" that drove me nuts. (With Dr permission, dropped out after a couple of classes in favor of the brief tour of the OB unit offered to those who weren't first time parents.)
posted by she's not there at 8:49 PM on March 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

It was great for me and my spouse. We saw others and interacted with them and it helped us to realize that, hey, if they can do it, so can we. We intellectually knew most of the stuff. But the group was great.
posted by kerf at 10:07 PM on March 13, 2018

I'm a huge introvert, so any kind of class was a no-go for me. I read a dozen books, watched a hundred episodes of all the "giving birth" shows TLC had to offer (16 years ago), and Googled everything I couldn't find anywhere else. When it came time to push, I curled upward/forward as I pushed. My nurses all told me afterward it was really smart of me to do that, since it helped in getting him out. Told them my "pregnancy class" was TLC. They got a kick out of it.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 12:40 AM on March 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

I didn't attend any classes or read any books before either of my births, just watched a heap of One Born Every Minute episodes. I figured my body and the midwife would know what to do and I was correct.
posted by Wantok at 3:12 AM on March 14, 2018

My son is three months old now and I made my two closest new mom friends. It's really nice to have friends with babies the same age. We didn't start getting together until we re-met in breastfeeding class, though.

Our class had presentations by a lactation consultant and a pediatrician that were really good and it was nice to hear from then when to call for help. Getting feedback on the hip squeezing move helped a lot during my labor. Breathing exercises were not used at all in my fast labor; I just yelled at the nurses that I hated breathing. We also had an acupuncturist teach acupressure spots we did not use at all.

In person classes are also good if you have a partner who is not doing much research on their own.
posted by carolr at 4:22 AM on March 14, 2018

Like someone else mentioned, I found it helpful to take a class at the hospital because they included information specific to their facility. It was a short class.
posted by beyond_pink at 5:51 AM on March 14, 2018

I thought in person classes were a huge waste of my time. I wouldn’t even bother with the online ones, to be honest. Neither of my labors followed anything like the “rules” they gave us for going to the hospital and I definitely got more information from freaking online message boards than them. I’ll never get those 6 hours back and now that I have kids I can tell you that going to the movies would have been a much smarter decision.
posted by lydhre at 5:54 AM on March 14, 2018

Online is fine. Try to get a program that actually informs you fully about all the possible options instead of having any sort of agenda. For example, although I didn't plan for an epidural, I was really glad that the DVD I got had a long discussion about what to expect with an epidural (when I got one). I feel like a lot of childbirth classes focus on things that don't matter all that much, and not what to actually expect in the hospital. I used Laugh and Learn About Childbirth, which now has a full online version.
posted by yarly at 6:44 AM on March 14, 2018

My in-person class was at the hospital I was going to deliver at; I don't think being in-person would have had much point otherwise ... and frankly I could schedule a private tour at my leisure so *shrug*
Ditto. I was glad we did the class, but the information itself was nothing we couldn't have gotten from an online course. The hospital tour was very valuable for making us feel more comfortable.

However, if you can sign up for an in-person infant and child first aid class, *that* would be a good use of your time, imo.
posted by Kriesa at 6:50 AM on March 14, 2018

The thing I had with my first pregnancy that I really missed with my second was feeling comfortable with the person who delivered my kiddo and the location that I gave birth in. The class I took (multi-week rather than a single multi-hour session) made the difference: it let me meet & get a feel for all the midwives on the team, and we got a lot of info about the hospital and took a tour.

So, if the class will let you meet all the OBs on the team and give you a tour of the hospital (or birthing center or what have you), I'd go for it. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother, but definitely try to meet all the OBs and take a tour of the hospital/whatever.
posted by Baethan at 8:17 AM on March 14, 2018

Since people are talking about meeting people: the place where I met people and made friends was in the new parents group at the hospital where I gave birth. They had one for babies 0-3 months, and one from 3-12 months.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:06 AM on March 14, 2018

Didn’t bond w the people in our class but I did think it was nice to set aside time w my partner to take some time out from our normal hustle bustle and, for just a bit, focus ONLY on getting prepared mentally for the birth in a way we would have been way too distracted to do at home
posted by sestaaak at 11:38 AM on March 14, 2018

I found my course useful. I learned how to push productively instead of just giving myself a hernia, which was helpful. I learned what forceps and vacuums look like and why they are used. How my husband could help ease labour pains. And also, a bit about newborn care, especially to watch for frequency of pees and poops - which I otherwise wouldn't have known about. I'm sure all of this could be found online, too.
posted by kitcat at 12:37 PM on March 14, 2018