How to choose an antenatal course
How to choose an antenatal course
So this is really important. Getting the right birth preparation for you and your partner can make a HUGE difference. Both to your pregnancy and your labour and birth. This then in turn makes a huge difference to your postnatal experience and to parenthood too. Basically what you choose to do (or not do) now can affect you for the rest of your life. No I’m not being overdramatic - I see so many mothers in my Mum & Baby classes (and sadly in my birth trauma work) once they’ve had their babies who regret choosing the wrong course because it’s what their friend did, or not doing anything at all because they were in denial, or their partner didn’t want to do a course, or they thought they could rely on the NHS to provide this - when sadly either the courses are not provided or are very limited in their scope.
So I hope this might help you choose the course that’s right for you. And that will make the most difference to your experience in a positive way.
1) First thing about how you learn best.
Most humans learn better in an in-person setting. Where they get to interact, to experience their learning, to meet other people, and to really actually engage with the content. That’s how we learn the best as humans.
Yes reading books is great but it’s a different type of learning to experiencing teaching in the moment. You don’t get to ask the author questions, and it’s just one point of view.
And online courses have their place if you live in a remote location. But how many online courses in your life have you half-watched, or not quite finished, or had questions and couldn’t ask anyone? Well for me I have to say quite a few. Buying the course is not ‘doing’ the course! Also often there can be other distractions when doing online course, we’re not quite engaged or we’re multi tasking. Clearly this is not great for learning and engaging. A pre-recorded online course cannot be tailored to who is watching, whereas in a live course the teacher is able to adapt the course to those sat in front of them, making it more specific and relevant to exactly those folks that are there.
Podcasts can be really helpful, but they’re not a antenatal course and also of course are opinion based. They again are passive - you listen but don’t contribute or ask any questions you have.
With an IRL course you are able to engage in discussion, and experience hands on learning. You can ask questions as they come up and importantly get immediate clarification of anything you need to get everything really clear in your mind. This leads to a far superior level of service and ultimately leave the course with a deeper level of understanding and stronger skills where the techniques are concerned.
2) Who is your teacher and what is their experience and training
First do you even know who your teacher will be? Usually with things like the traditional old NCT classes you get assigned a teacher, but you don’t know anything about them in advance. All teachers have different styles (even if the curriculum is set) and will you gel with their style? If you don’t know who they are or anything about them then you won’t know this before you sign up and pay your money.
It could also be a good idea to know…
~ what's their background and training?
~ is the course accredited? For example by the Royal Collage of Midwives?
~ how long have they been teaching?
~ do they do regular CPD?
~ do they have contact with local hospitals, midwives and birthcenters to give you up to date information?
3) Does the teacher align with you?
Do not underestimate this! Does the teacher feel like a good fit?
Also really importantly do they have any biases, what are their thoughts around birth, do their own experiences influence how and what they teach? To know this before you book your course is important. So look for a course where you can look up the teacher first. Check out their professional Instagram or Facebook pages or biography on their website - what do they say and how do they say it? Do this feel like a good fit to you? If not, look for a different teacher.
4) Make sure your teacher has no agenda
Again really important. If your teacher has their own thoughts on things like the ‘right’ type of birth you should have, or that a certain place to birth is best (for example home birth) - then frankly you should run a mile! Because it’s not their choice, it is your choice. And their job should be to give you the tools to make those decisions for yourself.
A judgement free course is really important.
If you are thinking about attending an NHS course, they how do you know this is not biased by the trusts own policies and guidelines? That it won’t show you all the possibilities available to you. I’m going to answer this one for you - you don’t, and honestly - it will be. So please do not rely on this as your only course of antenatal preparation.
5) Get recommendations or read reviews
if you have friends and family locally then ask for reviews of teachers. You can also look on Google / Facebook for reviews of teachers and their courses. Look on their website for testimonials and reviews from other people who’ve been taught by that teacher and been on their course. Seeing what other people say can be so helpful in making your decision.
6) Ask yourself - what do you want from the course and what does your partner want from the course?
Get you and your partner together and make a list of what you want from your antenatal course.
These questions may help you….
Are you looking to meet other local parents to be? If so an in-person course will be best for you. Parents to be are able to connect with other people in a similar position to them. Community can be build and this sense of belonging is usually not available via an online programme.
Are you looking for practical techniques and tools to use in labour? Make sure your course offers plenty of this
Do you want your partner to be more connected to the pregnancy, and be a real part of the birth (not a hapless bystander!) . A hypnobirthing course can really help with this
Are you looking to feel more positive and empowered in your labour. A hypnobirthing course can really help with this too.
Do you want to worry less about labour, to remove feeling fearful about how to get this baby out?! A hypnobirthing course can really help with this.
Do you want to feel calmer and more confident in the rest if your pregnancy too? And yes hypnobirthing course can really help here too.
Do you want to know about the ‘once bay arrives bit’ - nappies, breastfeeding, baby sleep, soothing baby etc. Just to day that I have a unique postnatal online course that you only get with my hypnobirthing course. It covers all of this and more
7) What resources do you get on the course
Do you get any materials to take away? Like book or a folder of information or videos to back up the course after it’s finished?
Do you get other access to resources?
Do you have equipment you can loan for free? Like a TENS machine for example
Do you get any other useful extras?
Getting these on the course can make it more comprehensive, and also more cost effective too.
8) What ongoing support do you get?
What happens after the course. What ongoing support (if any) do you get from the course / teacher? Can you contact them to recap, to ask more questions? When does their support stop?
9) value for money
How does the course compare for what you get? Not just the in-person element, but also the extra resources and elements you get (or don’t get) too.
We’re in a cost of living crisis for flips sake - make sure you invest your money wisely.
I know that’s all a lot to think about. But as I said right at the start this is important. Pregnancy and birth change people - fact. And to go through that change in the most empowered and confident way as a couple will make a big difference. So do your own research, do the course that’s right for you with the teacher that’s right for you.
If you want to ask me any questions about the courses that I teach, then of course just let me know. I’m always happy to help if I can.
I may be the right teacher for you, or I may not. But it’s important you know :)
Susan x