If you’re actively thinking about preparing for birth – congratulations! Research shows that participation in childbirth classes has a positive impact on confidence levels and pregnancy outcome.
Haven’t considered the purpose of childbirth education courses yet? They focus mainly on providing information about the process of labour, management of pain, emotional issues during labour, postpartum period, and the early weeks of motherhood.
Some of the courses, like yoga-based courses, Calmbirth and hypnobirthing, focus on breathing and mindfulness techniques to overcome fear of giving birth. Childbirth fear is linked with lower labour pain tolerance and worse postpartum adjustment, so facing up to your fears and arming yourself with tools and techniques are really going to help you.
There’s plenty of choices out there – from weekend and evening courses offered by your hospital, to online self-paced study options. But which is the right choice for you?
Questions for you to consider are:
- Cost. Courses range from free to $5,000. What is your budget? The Calmbirth course is $550 (plus accommodation), whereas the Mother Nurture Yoga Couples Birth Preparation Workshop is just $129 at the early bird price.
- How much time do you have? Some courses like Calmbirth are a full weekend, whereas others, like the Mother Nurture Yoga Couples Birth Preparation Workshop, are just a few hours.
- Do you want to meet other local parents? If meeting other local parents-to-be is important to you, going away for the weekend or studying online is unlikely to help you. Hospital group classes tend to be large and impersonal, so may also be hard to form any meaningful connections.
- Convenience. Being able to do the course on one Saturday afternoon may be more convenient than having to visit multiple evenings or dedicate an entire weekend.
- Size of the group. Most hospital classes are large groups. However, evidence suggests that a class size of 8-10 couples is ideal. With this smaller group size, you can ask questions, seek clarification and relate information to your own circumstances. The Mother Nurture Yoga Couples Birth Preparation Workshop is an intimate size of 5-8 couples.
- Independent birth education versus a hospital course. Hospital-based childbirth classes often focus on preparing women and their partners for what to expect in terms of policies and procedures in the hospital setting, and tend to focus on the most common ways of birthing in that setting. If you’re looking for a deeper focus on relaxation and breathing techniques, you may prefer to consider supplementing this traditional education with a yoga-based approach.
- Vibe. Are you looking purely for fact-based education, or for a bonding experience with your partner that you’ll remember forever?
The Mother Nurture Yoga Couples Birth Preparation Workshop is a great option if you:
- Already love your pregnancy yoga classes and want to share what you’ve learnt with your partner so he has practical ways to support you and you can be a strong team on the big day
- Want to take a deep dive into breathing techniques, positions for labour and natural pain relief
- Are looking for a memorable, fun experience doing couples yoga with your partner
- Want to start communicating with your partner about your birth wishes, fears and ideas
- Need practical, down-to-earth education without all the fluff
- Have already done hospital antenatal classes but left feeling overwhelmed
During the Mother Nurture Yoga Couples Birth Education workshop you will:
- Learn natural birth skills, including breathing techniques and active movements for birth
- Practice ways your partner can support you during your pregnancy and labour, including massage, acupressure points, partner yoga and natural pain relief
- Bond with your partner through some fun partner yoga (laughing out loud is guaranteed!)
- Relax deeply and enjoy some simple, guided meditations
The workshop is led by Pregnancy & Birth Coach Caroline Bagga, mum of 3 children (2 of whom were born at home), and Founder of Mother Nurture Yoga.
We’ve had hundreds of couples attend our workshops. Here’s just some of the positive feedback we’ve received:
Thank you Caroline for running the birthing course. It allowed me to have the natural water birth I wanted! My husband loved the session too! ~ Clare
“The Couples Birth Preparation class is also an absolute must! It’s a fun, special, and educational 3 hours that we both left feeling so grateful for” ~ Alannah
“It was great – super practical and really gave my husband Mark a lot of confidence in how to support me during labour. It was a very different labour to my first and things progressed so quickly… but Mark could pick up pretty quickly what I was trying to do without having to use words and help guide me through it. I feel like we were so much more in sync this time around and your course played a huge role in that so thank you!” ~ Chrissie
“Overall it exceeded my expectation. Recommend to all” ~ Vab
“Useful framework and techniques for labour” ~ Peter
“Thanks for the relaxing session. It helped to mentally prepare me for the birth” ~ David
“Loved that my partner knows the techniques and can support me better with that knowledge” ~ Lily
“In labour, I had sharp contractions which I handled through breathing techniques learned in the classes. I had very long labour of about two days without any pain relief medication. The only thing that made me calm and confident was the poses and breathing techniques which I learned. My Bub, husband and me are very happy and thankful to Caroline.” ~ Gayathri
Be a strong team on the big day!
