First Bradley class tonight!!

[Thandiwe]

My husband and I are planning our first home/water birth this October for our second child. Our midwife requires we attend a class, and we chose Bradley. Tonight was our first class, and I'm excited. I'm not so excited about the instructor (sadly enough, the instructor I contacted originally didn't call back very quickly, and I had already paid a deposit when she referred me to a better-suited instructor). Not that there's anything at all wrong with our current instructor; it's just that, well, we're a little too "organic hippy" for their style. I got a secret chuckle when I heard her telling us (there are two couples) that we might not want to advertise we're doing a Bradley birth (assuming in hospital setting) because we might get slack from friends and family. I chuckled inside, because we're a co-sleeping, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, soon to be homebirthing organic family. We're a few steps ahead on the shock-o-meter for most of our "mainstream" friends and family. But I guess to each their own. It just really made me realize how desperately different we are from the couple teaching and the other couple taking the class. I've been told that the other instructor's referral was a little more our lifestyle. Grrrrr.....

I'm going to do this class and learn what I can with the hopes of being able to take this back and get certified to teach on my own. But of course, first I have to have a positive Bradley experience myself.

Lost in a sea of modern, non-crunchy moms living a six-figure comfy cozy life, feeling a little inadequate??

[SublimeBirthGirl]

When I taught Bradley, I always mentioned that they might not want to talk about taking Bradley with their birth team. It has nothing to do with how crunchy or non-crunchy I am. It's that most OBs and many midwives react with hostility to Bradley. Bradley is perceived badly by just about every type of HCP, at least where I live. I've had nurses tell me that nurses/OBs they work with target Bradley students for c-sections, and will do their best to try to sabatoge their plans. When I told them not to talk about taking Bradley, it was meant to protect their birth experience. Most Bradley students, at least for me, were first time moms with no experience in doing things differently and having to stand up for their beliefs. Some women are generally better at that than others.

[Thandiwe]

Laura-

Thanks for the insight; that's a view I definitely hadn't considered. I guess, overall, I felt a little "out of place," like we were "weird" for our views. You make some really good points, though. Thank you!

~Jennifer