If I’m having a homebirth, do I need to take a childbirth education class?

I highly recommend it. Especially if this is your first baby, or if this is your first homebirth, a childbirth education class is key in your preparation for the labor process. Your midwife team will be supportive and will absolutely be available to offer guidance and encouragement once they arrive, but midwifery teams typically don’t arrive until you are in active labor and statistically, early labor is the longest phase of the process.

The good news is that the majority of the time, early labor is quite manageable. Contractions are spaced out, mild, and shorter in duration. But understanding the difference between early and active labor characteristics can save a lot of wasted energy getting worked up about whether it’s go time or not. This excitement and apprehension can seriously get in the way of resting enough to save energy for the hard work of active labor.

I recommend taking a class that will introduce you to multiple kinds of comfort measures and coping techniques for the active phase. Studies show that layering more than one comfort measure at a time yields higher satisfaction rates in birth. Learning about positions that are helpful for the different stages of labor and how high or low the baby is in the pelvis, hands-on counter pressure, massage, and acupressure techniques for partners to utilize in their support, breathing techniques for releasing physical tension, how often to hydrate and how often to empty your bladder, what kinds of foods are helpful to maintain your energy, and more can be gleaned from a good childbirth education course. The act of learning about your options and putting together your tools builds confidence leading up to your birth, and using these tools will help see you through at home.

In addition to learning about the things you can proactively do to influence your birth experience for the better, it’s also helpful to learn about what kinds of procedures and interventions are available, when they might be offered or recommended, and how you can advocate and communicate with healthcare providers to get all the information you need to make informed decisions. If you’re planning a homebirth, this may be stressful to think about, because you are likely wanting to avoid interventions. However, having a basic understanding of what they are and how to work with them when they’re needed can make all the difference in limiting uncertainty and potential trauma when a transfer of care is needed.

I personally teach the 6 week Evidence Based Birth curriculum to families preparing for homebirth, hospital birth, and birth center births, and there are plenty of other classes in Nashville and Middle Tennessee also available to families. I give all my homebirth midwifery clients an education resources list and strongly encourage them to take a class in preparation for their labor and birth. I don’t recommend relying on social media snippets or opinion based resources that abound on the internet, as these can generate unhelpful fears and be partially or wholly inaccurate. As an experienced childbirth educator turned midwife, I’m very passionate about arming my families with evidence-based information and multiple coping skills so that they can take ownership of their pregnancies and births with as much confidence as one can have while bringing a whole new person into the world.