Hi, I'm an emergency medicine resident expecting a baby this September. My husband is not medical. What would you recommend doing to prepare us for the birth? Should we just do the class so that my husband can get that experience? Or is there a video or online resource that you would recommend? I, personally, would rather not go through a class unless one of you thinks that it would be beneficial.
Thanks in advance for your help!!
emmd2010

We didn't take a class. My non-medical husband read the Sears' Birth Book, which was plenty. I think the thing my husband found most useful, though, was having a great doula. Our doula is actually a homebirth midwife, incredibly experienced. Just having her present to explain and reassure gave my husband comfort and confidence. He was all set to catch the baby, even. (Although, at the last minute, there was a double nuchal cord, so the OB ended up doing the catching.)

Oh, and I did the Hypnobabies home study course, which was pure awesomeness. Had a dreamy natural birth. Loved it.

We only made it to 1 class before the little stinker was born. It was all fine in the end. It helped that I had participated in a few births and that I had JUST gotten off the phone with my very wise and mother-of-three friend before my water broke. She gave me ALL the dirt on what it was actually like.

My hubby mostly stayed toward the head of the hospital bed (his choice). I was prepping him as things were happening ("Don't look at the placenta! It's disgusting!!!"). He did fine



<shiver> same here (well, just single). that was a scary 60 seconds!

I went to the library and checked out a couple of childbirth dvd's. They were, for the most part, garbage. Especially the 1980's lamaze video. You are a physician, you have delivered babies, and you know how it goes. Maybe watch a video with your husband so he knows what to expect.

well we signed up for a class at our local tertiary care hospital (where i was a resident at the time) and went to the first class only. He did not find it helpful and neither did I. I did some reading on my own and he did ok in the end!

If you are into unmedicated births, classes based on the Bradley method were useful for my husband and I, though for different reasons. It was useful for him (non-medical), because they extensively went over all the basics of pregnancy changes, phases of labor, and had videos and methods for the partner to be included as "birth coach;" and it was useful to me for the relaxation techniques and the accountability/encouragement for getting adequate nutrition and doing lots of preparatory exercises/stretches. The downsides for me were a) the time commitment, since it was a 12-class series (a little overkill for me, but my husband liked all the info) and b) the occasional "OB-GYNs are your enemy" talk that some of the more passionate of the "natural birth" advocates can sometimes spout (which allowed me plenty of opportunity to roll my eyes and try to lend a little balance to the conversation.
I am not really a proponent of the "learn it all in one day" type labor classes that many hospitals offer, since it seems like such a humongous trial/event in a couple's lives that can't be "crammed for"; however, it would lay the foundation so your husband isn't completely taken-aback at the realities of childbirth.
Good luck in your search...

My husband felt very good about the 4-night class we took at the local hospital. It had some good, practical info for me too that I actually used during the birth. The booklet we used explaned that the stages/phases weren't totally static, and that there could be some overlap. For example, even though I hadn't dialated as fast as my OB wanted during the first 4-5 hrs of labor (was 3 cm), by the time she came to talk to me about augmenting w/pit, I could tell I was progressing (no longer feeling very social, etc.). This allowed me to confidently tell her I wanted to wait and check again in two hours as long as things continued to look good on the baby monitor, etc. (gave birth less than 4 hrs later w/o augmentation). The class booklet was so concise and clear, and that is probably why the class was so worthwhile to me. In the middle of labor, I could remember the pages that were most useful in the moment (though I didn't know in advance which pages those would be). I guess there are no guarantees that a given class will be particularly useful, unfortunately. I'm sorry I cannot remember the name of the booklet. I wish I could - now that I'm expecting my 2nd baby.

If you're into unmedicated births, another approach you might find interesting or helpful is Hypnobirthing. It was amazing for me. It even helped with sleeping at night - even going back to sleep while having a leg cramp. I recently met a neighbor who used a similar approach called Hypnobabies. Her OB was so astounded by it that you'd have thought he had a spiritual experience. My OB said she was really proud of me, but I never had the guts to tell her that I had used "hypno" anything!