Childbirth Class ( Part 5)

I don't think anyone really wanted that last class to end. afterwards, most people milled about talking. We eventually took it out to the parking lot and I think we finally got out of there at 11pm, 90 minutes after the class ended. lol. My theory is that the end of the class symbolized another giant step closer to this awesome yet terrifying upcoming life change. No one really seemed in a big hurry to move on. well, except for the couple we nicknamed "the crabby people." Even the Chinese couple stayed around to talk about cloth diapers with me. And it ended up that we talked the most to "Pretty People #1" and "Pretty People #2" who ended up being not nearly as snobby as we thought they'd be. :D We'll even see PP#1 again at our natural childbirth class on tues. nite, they ended up having the same doctor as us.

Overall, that class was pretty awesome. Some of the books I had read, sort of put me off hospital sponsored childbirth classes, saying that they just wanted to teach you how to be a good patient, more than to educate you on your options. But either we got a totally kick-ass hospital, or teacher. Probably both I'm thinking. It made me feel way more comfortable with our choice of going with a hospital even though we're shooting for a natural birth. I guess there are HUGE differences in what kind of birth experience you get depending on your doctor and hospital. You'd think it would be pretty universal at this point, but surprisingly it's far from it. So if you have a specific vision of what you want your experience to be, it pays to shop around, BIG TIME.

One of the most important things I learned was that most doctor's will SAY that they are okay with natural birth but then end up jumping in as soon as they can with the interventions. And of course in the end, everyone can say "thank god for the doctor and modern technology, our baby might not have survived." People forget though that an Obstetrician is a surgeon. they aren't trained for normal birth, to sit around and wait for something to happen, they are trained for emergency situations in which they get to MAKE things happen...to medically manage the birth. And once the interventions start, they lead to other interventions, and then more, and then "poof" you just had a c-section which was entirely preventable.

I have total faith that between our OB and our midwife, and the fairly progressive policies at Olathe Medical Center, we won't have a "medically managed" birth unless it is 100% ABSOLUTELY necessary. And in an emergency situation, we welcome all that modern technology has to offer. That's why we're doing this in a hospital for the first time. But you can bet the farm that we're going to ask "why" first.