Antenatal class tomorrow...

[Archer]

I think whether or not it is worth your while is going to depend greatly on who actually offers it. Someone who is just regurgitating the wealth of info you can get online is obviously not worth the effort. I find I usually walk away from our classes with more questions that I didn't even think to ask, that is invaluable to me. And we don't get told anything, just presented with options with some of the pros and cons that we can explore on our own time. Our teacher also happens to be a nurse (or whatever it's called) that can assist us with getting our child to breastfeed properly should we have any issues, so don't have to go looking for that.

Just pray that you don't get any hippies who can use the internet in your class, the levels of dumb can be irritating

 

[rorz0r]

I had a pretty similar experience except we got muffins and not cake.

 

[srothman]

So a quick update on the goings on of the weekend.

Class was very good. The relevance, I have no idea, and will figure this out once the offspring presents himself.

It was very "unstructured", in that they will cover one or two slides on a certain topic, and the rest of the time will be a Q & A on that topic, e.g. natural birth vs. an elective C-Section. The nurse presenting it (a 14-year veteran at Femina Womens Clinic in Pretoria) wouldn't at any time show a bias towards either two, but answered all questions that came up clearly and knowledgably, and presented the facts about both, with potential pros and cons of both. I liked this, that they didn't try and force any opinion on anyone.

There were a lot of answers that came out for questions we didn't even realize we had, and with the whole place being full of first-time parents such as ourselves, it was nice to share questions and concerns with people in the same boat as ours.

Will I recommend it. Yes. Will you get away with not doing something like it. Of course.

All in all, I got something out of it, so ya, glad we attended.

 

[Nerfherder]

I think whether or not it is worth your while is going to depend greatly on who actually offers it. Someone who is just regurgitating the wealth of info you can get online is obviously not worth the effort. I find I usually walk away from our classes with more questions that I didn't even think to ask, that is invaluable to me. And we don't get told anything, just presented with options with some of the pros and cons that we can explore on our own time. Our teacher also happens to be a nurse (or whatever it's called) that can assist us with getting our child to breastfeed properly should we have any issues, so don't have to go looking for that.

Just pray that you don't get any hippies who can use the internet in your class, the levels of dumb can be irritating

The only advice any mother should ever take with regards to the internet, is to steer clear of those mommy forums... those are scary

 

[Carol35]

The only advice any mother should ever take with regards to the internet, is to steer clear of those mommy forums... those are scary

Hahaha

 

[SoulTax]

Which they teach you in the hospital with your very own real live baby so utterly pointless.

Not to mention that it's not rocket science.




Nope. It's a money making racket on top of the already overpriced adventure of having a baby. Much like having a wedding.

There is really nothing in the course content that we didn't already know with some very basic and free reading or YouTube'ing.

It's called having an interest, instead of being spoon fed.

If you want to do something worth while before having a baby then watch the show "One Born Every Minute" even before making the baby. It will give you all the education you may need and a reality check as well.

More scary is the the push for caesars so it's "convenient" for everyone not to mention formula feeding as an easy out.

And if you think that watching a video on infant CPR is as good as actually performing it on a dummy, where an instructor can correct you, then sure.
Some people require a little tactile learning, to engage a tiny bit of muscle memory when the panic of a choking baby sets in.

You may have done just fine without the course. and 95% of people who attend Antenatal classes, will have done just fine without those classes either. But it is pretty hard to argue that you would have been no better off had you gone on the course. Seeing as you have not been on one and so cannot know what the exact gain would be.

Classes like that are more than their syllabus on paper.

 

[SoulTax]

There were a lot of answers that came out for questions we didn't even realize we had, and with the whole place being full of first-time parents such as ourselves, it was nice to share questions and concerns with people in the same boat as ours.

Will I recommend it. Yes. Will you get away with not doing something like it. Of course.

All in all, I got something out of it, so ya, glad we attended.

And that is the advantage of a formal, group based course. Your knowledge gain is not restricted by the scope of your own questions, and the scope of the information that the teacher is scheduled to divulge. It also includes the other couples that think to ask questions that you hadn't thought of.

I for one am glad you found some value in it. You are right that you can easily manage without it, but you will also be able to manage that little bit better because of it.