Anyone use the Bradley Method for homebirth?

[Phoebe]

I am not planning on taking a birth class as I'm not sure if there are any that would pertain to my plan to homebirth. I would like to read as much as possible. Have any of you homebirthers used the Bradley method in your births?
Would you recomend it?
If not, what "method" would you suggest me studying?

Thanks,
Amy

[Carolinamidwife]

Bradley can definitely pertain to homebirthers and I have seen it used effectively at many births. It is mainly just a method of relaxation and you'll need to be relaxed whether you're at home or in the hospital. I think a class can be very beneficial to first timers and their partners becauses most Bradley classes touch on more than just the method itself. As the pregnant women we tend to know a lot of about the stages of labor and what our bodies are going through but we fail to realize that our partners may have no clue. IMO the more your birth partner understands the better able they are to help you through.

I am planning to use the Bradley method at my homebirth in December. The newer Bradley books seem to be better, the older ones just have a weird sexist feel to me.

A lot of homebirthers also really seem to dig hypnobirthing and hypnobabies as well.

Amy

[stafl]

I haven't used it yet, but DH and I did take Bradley classes this time around. Mostly, I wanted him to know what to do to support me during labor! Plus, he never takes my word for anything, so having an "expert" (our instructor) talk about all the interventions and things I am so dead-set against happening this time around really helped him see my point of view regarding childbirth.
I highly recommend it, unless you somehow have one of those very few and far between partners who automatically and instinctively knows what you want him to do, and does it, without you having to say anything at all.
Anyway, DH was far to scared and uninformed to be any help to me at all during the birth of our first daughter. I wanted to make sure things would be different this time, and taking Bradley classes was just one of the things I did to make sure that what happened before would never happen again.

[kama'aina mama]

I had a Bradley homebirth. It was great and I was very pleased at how well prepared my husband was. He was amazed in conversations around the time of our birth to discover that he knew things about labor and birth that women we knew who had recently given birth didn't know! The only odd thing about being a homebirther in a Bradley class is that the classes have a pretty strong consumerism component... teaching you about the interventions etc that are likely to be 'sold' to you at the hospital and how to evaluate them and respond. So there were a number of parts of the class where the instructor would say "Now at this point in your labor they are likely to want to put you on a fetal monitor... reasons are blah blah, reasons you might want to decline are blah blah.... oh, except of course kama and thistle won't have to worry about that at all." But I was glad to hear it all because it is never 100% certain that you won't be transfered and I was glad to have the hospital stuff in my mental vocabulary and in my husbands... it made me that much more confident that even if things didn't go as planned we wouldn't be totally overwhelmed by things.

[rlyates]

I used bradley in my 2nd birth but went to the hospital. The nurses didn't believe I was in labor and when I told them it was time they laughed and said there was no way. Needless to say, they Checked and dd was basically crowning and then they were running around like a bunch of idiots. In fact I delivered with an intern because there were no doctors on the floor until at the very end. I found the bradley method very very helpful because of the imaging and relaxation exercises. I used Susan McCutcheon's book and not the class- no instructors in my area.

[sagewinna]

We are currently taking a Bradley series and loving it. This will be our first homebirth.

I think it depends on the teacher and/ or the area you live in: Our class is very pro homebirth, and the instructor gently advocates no interventions.

[LuvMy2Kidz]

We took a Bradley class for our homebirth, and in all honesty, I could have done it with just reading the book.

[Sustainer]

I had a Bradley homebirth. I highly recommend the Bradley Method. It's very natural. The instructor was fantastic and full of information and very very AP.

[hmpc2]

I really believe it depends on the instructor. My DH and I had an amazing one. It was because of our Bradley Classes that we decided on our homebirth. I think it is SO informative and was really helpful for my DH to see the information that we were given. I think it was a very empowering experience for him also. So often men are forgotten during pregnancy and taking our Bradley class helped him feel included and important in the pregnancy.

[georgia]

I agree with the sexist thing. Anything "coached" or "method" just bothers me. It seems to turn the power over to someone other than the woman, IMO. I'm just sensitive, I guess. I've read both Susan's book and Dr. B's book---her book is much, much better, again, IMO. One of my best friends is a fantastic Bradley instructor, so I'm very familiar with "the method." Her B. classes are highly geared toward avoiding hospital intervention, so if you're not going to the hospital....I might suggest asking around for input on the instructor...it's a fair amount of $ and time to spend with someone you don't really enjoy.

All the best!

[Phoebe]

Thanks for all the input everyone!

I went ahead and ordered the book...Susan McCutcheon's version. It sounds like at least reading the book will do some good. I will look into classes but will probably end up just reading...maybe, we'll see.

Anyway, thanks for all the help!

Amy

[moonlightinvt]

I read "Birthing From Within" and had a home birth. Great book. Builds confidence in our ability to birth our babies naturally and normally. Lots of ideas for mental preparation and relaxation techniques. It helped me through the pregnancy and birth.

I birthed my baby--my husband filled the birthing tub and rubbed my back and reminded me once to follow my body's lead--he had complete confidence in me, too. It was perfect.

I highly recommend the book (sorry, can't remember the author and I've lent the book out).

[TrishWSU]

I took the Bradely class, and I agree that I probably could of gotten by with just reading the book. But it really helped my fiance to know what to do and expect.

And the instructor does makes a difference. Ours had had two hospital births and two homebirths, so she really had something to compare too. Also, she offered her doula services to anyone who took the class.

So, taking the class had its benefits.