childbirth methods/classes

[Sea_Gal]

I am planning a homebirth for the end of March.
I am currently reading about different classes/methods.
I've heard good things about Hypnobirthing and birthing from within.
But I would love to hear your take on which methods you've tried.
Also if you feel that the classes available serve hospital birthers more.
If there has already been a thread on this please redirect me.
Thanks.

[tiffany21074]

nak
i took bradley classes; my dh said he was SO glad we did...it really prepared him. i think the link is

www.bradleybirth.org

or maybe com

my bradley instructor had a birth center birth and her second was a UC!

[Emilie]

I want to teach the bfw courses( tho ive never been able to take it- no instructor in my area)

I really feel that bfw is what helped me the most thru labor.
It had very helpful ideas and tips- thru reading I learned more about what worked for me and used it. I focused on all the other women who had gone before me during labor. I got that in there.

[moonygoony]

My midwife and I were just talking about the Hypnobirthing vs. Birthing From Within. In her experience, she found that it works best if with a first baby you take BFW and then with a second baby do Hypnobirthing.

I just had my son at home about 6 weeks ago. I found the methods taught in BFW to be really helpful. I did use the cd that comes with the Hypnobirthing book to help prepare before birth. It really helped in the last two months when sleep eluded me and helped me remain calm during my 2.5 year olds tantrums. "just choose peace and calm" became my unofficial motto. Good luck!

[lolar2]

I'm about to go to my first Hypnobabies (not Hypnobirthing) class this afternoon. If my brain holds up, I'll post back here and tell you how it was.

[SublimeBirthGirl]

I took Bradley w/ my first (hospital) and used the Hypnobabies home study for my 2nd (home UC). I teach Bradley, and I love it, but it is geared more towards hospital birthers IMO. Lots of stuff on avoiding unnecessary interventions and trying to communicate w/ birth teams. Lots of good stuff too though and if you're worried about transferring it'd all be good to know. Both programs were very much worthwhile for me.

[torio]

We haven't signed up for a class yet, but I've read the Bradley, BFW and Hypnobirthing books. Since this babe will be our first I have no idea what will work, but I liked reading all of them since it sounds right to me that we should be familiar with a variety of options. A good friend and her DH attended a Bradley class here before their HB and that's what we're leaning toward, at least until we discover any other interesting options. We're also planning a HB and don't want to do hospital classes.