Class Facts

Classes can be held at my home or yours.
Classes are 2.5 hours long, on two different weekends.
The fee is $125 and includes a 2014 edition of my workbook, “Northwest Natural Childbirth.”
Couples from my class who have experienced medical births, including induction, augmentation, and C-section, still assure me that the class gave them the knowledge and comfort level they needed to cope with the medical system. My class emphasizes “Healthy mother, healthy baby,” and I want every couple to feel that their birth is a success regardless of whether medication or intervention is part of their birth.
We talk about breasts and breastfeeding a lot. We also talk about sex. A lot. I am quite irreverent and use a lot of sarcastic and ironic humor and inappropriate language. The class at Swedish I am not.
Two books we use in class, which you can find in the library, used, in bookstores, or online, are: “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth,” and “The Birth Partner.” For couples birthing at home or birth center, “The Essential Homebirth Guide” is a must. The newest edition of “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding” is also required reading.
Other books my couples get a lot out of are: On how the medical system is really trying to cover itself and make a buck, not give you the birth of your choice: “Pushed, the Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care” by Jennifer Block, and Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed to Put Women and Children First by Marsden Wagner. Also by Dr. Wagner: “Creating Your Birth Plan: The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth “ For a great approach to making safe choices: “Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering,” by Sarah Buckley (an excellent book by a truly nice person), “Gentle Birth Choices,” by Barbara Harper, and Dr. Sears “The Birth Book.” The latter is a nice, balanced approach with lots of emphasis on natural childbirth and breastfeeding. Some readers may find that the other books listed do not take a balanced approach and are more heavy-handed in their emphasis on staying out of the medical system as much as possible.
For parenting books, my clients enjoy: On the reality of being a mother from a psychological and physiological perspective: “What Mothers Do… Especially When it Looks like Nothing At All …” by Naomi Aldort. “The Baby Book” by Dr. Sears, “The No Cry Sleep Solution,” which everyone should read before the baby is actually born, and Mothering magazine.