Antenatal Class - Week Two

We had our second antenatal class last night - this one was about coping mechanisms for labour both natural and medical, as well as unexpected outcomes and caesarian births. I enjoyed this class a bit more than the one from last week, possibly because it was a little less basic theory and a bit more interactive. This was the last class on labour and birth, next we move on to parenting for the final two weeks.

The main thing that I have gotten out of the labour classes so far has really surprised me. I expected to come out of these classes with a sense of reality about the fact that I will soon have to go through the labour process, and quite fearful of how I would be able to cope. But in fact at this stage, the classes have actually helped me to feel more empowered towards the labour process. I came into them thinking that I would need to use whatever drugs that could be given to me to help cope with labour, and I have come out with the frame of mind that I would like to try to labour naturally for as long as possible, and use only the gas for assistance in the later stages. Obviously I am still keeping a very open mind as I have never experienced labour before and therefore have no idea how I will cope. I am definately not closed off to the idea of even an epidural if it turns out that is what I need. But I am happy to say that I now feel a lot more confident about my ability to get through the labour process with as little medical intervention as possible.