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What is a Doula?
What is a Midwife?
What is a Bith Plan?
Breast feeding & Nursing Inquiry.
This page was created by
Tanya Cruickshank
Nursing Student Kwantlen University College
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Prenatal Education: The Benefit for Women and Families
Prenatal education benefits women and the new family through education. Prenatal classes have been shown to improve outcomes, women often report feeling more satisfied with the birth experience if they attended prenatal classes.
Prenatal education also encourages women to take control of the labour and birth process. By providing information about options especially medications, this can help the women feel better able to make decisions and manage with the stress of labour more successfully. This can help the women make informed decisions about what is right for her.
Prenatal classes generally offer three types of education: Information about events, procedures, sensations; skills to reduce discomfort and complications; and emotional & social support which reduce anxieties and can enhance coping (Koehn, 1992). This interactive group learning also can function as a support network.
It is important to consider:
- Who will be teaching the class?
A Doula? Midwife? Registered Nurse? It is important that the instructor�s ideas about labour, birth and parenting are compatible with the parents-to-be and the birth experience that is being chosen. Also make sure that the instructors qualifications meet your expectations and learning needs.
- What type of teaching method is used? Are the classes mostly lecture style or are they interactive?
If you are shy you might not enjoy a class where everyone is expected to participate, at the same time many people don�t learn well by just listening. Many prenatal classes offered today are a mixture of various teaching styles and include lecture, discussion, role-playing, videos etc.
- Do you want a birth plan? If so think about various consideration that may be included, ask the instructor, and other participants if they have thought about this option. There lots of examples on the internet of birthplans, they may provide you with some ideas.
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