When our journey to pregnancy started, my partner and I was very happy. We felt fortunate and blissful, we still feel the same way despite the ins and outs of life. Around week 4-5, I start to recollect all the birth stories shared by my family, relatives, and friends. Most of them were not really helpful to hear. I was very sure that I want to understand all about pregnancy from someone outside my family circle, more like an expert. Some of my friends suggested to go for Prenatal classes. I found couple of options and finally decided to go with the Childbearing Society in-person classes. It was so worth it! My recommendation is to get the classes if you can. These classes are tailored to educate you all about childbirth. And remember education is always empowering. After my classes, both of us felt very positive.

Another good reason to go for these classes apart from educating yourself is to get your partner’s involvement. During pregnancy, your body and mind will go through a lot of changes. As an expecting mom, you will feel all these changes, especially the internal ones. However, it is equally important for your partner to understand about all these changes. I saw a visible difference in my partner’s understanding post these classes. He got more emotionally involved, which is really important. As much as it is important for the birthing mother to educate herself, it is equally important for the partner too to understand the childbirth.

Is it better to join the classes online or in-person? I highly recommend joining the classes in-person, if you have the option nearby. As the experience is way better in-person versus online.

When should I take the classes? It all depends on your work and classes schedule. How many classes are offered, how well they are aligning with your work schedule, etc. I started my classes around week 20 (early second trimester). All the other couples in my classes were in their third trimester. In my opinion, these classes should neither be taken too early or too late. The advantage that I felt doing the classes early is 1) I was able to sit for long as my baby was still small. 2) I had plenty of time to read the materials forwarded by my instructor afterwards. The drawback for some doing the classes early is that you may not remember everything at the time of birth, especially the coping techniques. For me, I like to read, so I read a lot, made some sticky notes for my ninth month, added calendar events for myself to remember all the things that I needed to do.

How soon should I book the classes? Again, this totally depends on your location and how busy is the prenatal education center. Mostly these classes book out really fast. So, if you are planning to take one, scheduling in advance is always good.

Is it really helpful to do the classes when all the information is available online? That’s a very legit concern. Absolutely, all the content is available online. In fact there are so many good books one can read. But in these classes, the content is so streamlined and your instructor is quite experienced that you will get to know about everything that’s there to know! Once you get on your pregnancy journey, you might feel overwhelmed with all the information, so it’s better to take the classes, if you can. Also, these classes indulge your partner which is very important for the birthing mama.

Prenatal Classes Recommendation? I would say, search for the classes nearby as per your location. Read the reviews if there’s any. If you are in lower mainland, BC – you will have some really good options (I am sure other locations will have many good options as well). I took my classes from Childbearing Society, Vancouver which I really liked! If you couldn’t find one that suits your calendar or location, I find Prenatal classes on Commune to be very helpful as well. If you are looking for Ayurvedic Prenatal Education class, I’d recommend checking Dhayana Masla’s classes. They are a bit $$$ but I am sure, it will be worth it, if you can afford it.

I hope you find this article helpful!