Do these classes replace hospital antenatal classes?

The choice is yours- the HypnoBirthing® course is very comprehensive and will prepare you well for your birth, so it is not necessary to do both if you do not wish too.

 

Attending your hospital based classes may help you to understand the specific policies and procedures of your chosen birth place and care providers, allowing you to make more informed decisions about your care.

 

Keep in mind that hospital based antenatal classes are designed to be relevant to a large cohort of women (including those who have complicated pregnancies) so they do tend to have a strong focus on the medical side of birth and will usually discuss interventions, analgesia options and caesareans in depth.  This may cause unnecessary anxiety and fear for some women who are planning a physiological birth. 

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When should we attend classes?

Most parents start the course at around 20-30 weeks of pregnancy. The earlier you start the classes the more time you and your support person have to practice the techniques leaving you feeling more prepared when your birth time comes.

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Can we complete the course over a weekend?

Although there is some flexibility for women who are approaching their due date the general answer is no.

 

The bottom line is that completing the program over a weekend is just not effective so you are wasting both your time and money! Your brain can only retain so much new information (particularly when pregnant) so covering this amount of material in such a short space of time only leads to information overload as your brain reaches a saturation point and cannot process or retain any more information.

 

Completing the course over five sessions allows you and your birth companion allocated time together each week to practice the techniques, bond with each other and your unborn child and give thought to your specific birth preferences.