Childbirth Education Classes...

The Informed Birth Ireland Childbirth Class series has been developed to provide women and their partners with a thorough understanding of pregnancy, labour, childbirth, the post-partum period, breastfeeding, and infant care. These classes have been designed to provide expecting parents with adequate information concerning their care and the care of their baby. My goal is to present a midwifery model of care, which views childbirth as a natural, normal and healthy event in the lives of women. The classes present birth in such terms, and provide women with the information necessary to keep their experiences as natural, normal and healthy as possible. The purpose of Informed Birth classes is to build the confidence of women and their partners throughout the pregnancy, leading to a positive, empowering experience.

I’ve designed the classes to provide an abundance of information for both hospital and home birth couples. Over a period of eight weeks, I cover an array of topics including:

Birthing Beliefs ~ How we see birth today and how that effects the way we birth, birth in other cultures, the safety of birth, and how to become active in your own care.

Pregnancy ~ Foetal growth and development, prenatal nutrition, routine prenatal care and how to look after yourself, prenatal testing, common complaints of pregnancy, emotional and psychological aspects of pregnancy, sexuality in pregnancy, maintaining healthy relationships during your pregnancy.

Labour ~ Early signs of labour, when to call your midwife or go to the hospital, how our anatomy and physiology help us through labour, what not to do/things to avoid, active labour, transition, labour support for partners and labour coping techniques.

Pushing, Birth and the Placenta ~ Positioning, comfort measures, patience with pushing, breathing the baby out, avoiding tears and episiotomies, the birth of the placenta, newborn bonding and initiating breastfeeding.

Intervention or Interference? ~ When intervention is routine and when it is necessary (based on World Health Organization Guidelines), intervention safety, the domino theory of intervention, the pros and cons of pharmaceutical pain relief, caesarean prevention, difficult births, complications of labour and birth and how to avoid them, designing a birth plan.

Post-Partum ~ What happens now? The adjustment period, being a new parent, practicalities of the post-partum period, post-partum depression, being a new dad, family integration, common complaints and remedies, post-partum sexuality, looking after yourself.

Breastfeeding ~ Why breastfeeding is important, starting up, avoiding problems with breastfeeding, dealing with breastfeeding problems, breastfeeding resources.

Infant Care, Parenting and Family ~ Basic baby care, the immunisation controversy, family beds, parenting philosophies, weaning and food introduction, dietary advice, designing a post-partum plan.