Antenatal classes - are they worth it?

dustie1

Hi all,
I was recommended to do the classes by midwife in my consultants office. As I work an hour and half away from hospital the public classes just dont suit me. So i've been looking into private 1 day classes in my area (west of ireland). Unfortunately they dont run these very often and the date I was given clashes with my best friends wedding. At this stage I've no other date and I'm debating if its worthwhile doing at all. I've done loads of reading and am pretty well informed.
Has anyone done them and any thoughts?

kandr10

I did them with my partner. I paid to do them in the hospital where I gave birth. At the time I thought the bits about how to cope in labour, what to do etc were useful but on the ward the advice was quite different so I didn't get to put into practice what id .. Practiced! The bits on feeding, bathing, general looking after were a bit useless for me. The midwives in hospital I was in were good for answering those kinds of questions. So I'd say go to the wedding and ditch the class. But it all depends on how confident you feel yourself. If you're very nervous they might help.

pwurple

I thought it was worth it for a look at the facilities in the hospital before i got into labour.

Moonbeam

Yes and no.
I was happy to get a look around the hospital and find out their processes and procedures but I definitely would not have missed my best friends wedding to go to a 1 day course not in the hospital.
If you can attend 1 or 2 of the ones in the hospital or travel for a 1 day course on an alternative date. They are always on somewhere!

youcancallmeal

My wife is due in a few weeks and I found the hospital run antenatal course very helpful. Firstly it sort of brought things into perspective for me and made it all seem a bit more real. Also I feel much more confident now in the run up to the big day in knowing what to expect and having a good idea what the process will be. Given your situation if it was a course run by the hospital you will be going to then I would say do it but because it is a private course most of it is just stuff you can read in a book?

dustie1

Hi all,
To give an update I found a different midwife doing one day courses in the area. She also works in the hospital but I think she's a much better fit for us. The other course was very very focused on breastfeeding and not much else. This one goes through breastfeeding but other stuff for first time parents such as caring for and bathing a baby! So fingers crossed!
Thanks for the advice