Birth class via TV - the story so far

As I mentioned back here, we're skipping the traditional two-day $400 birth classes in favour of a more comprehensive, independent approach which includes some "a la carte" classes as well as books, DVDs and videos.

The story so far....

We lined up two videos from the library and a few DVDs from Netflix. First up was "The Joy of Natural Childbirth". This magnificent tranche of 80s documentary was hosted by Lorenzo Lamas (who K could have sworn was actually gay) and his wife. They and their 80s celebrity friends (including John Ritter, Kenny Rogers, Jane Seymour and the Famous Amos bloke) talk about their birthing experiences and then Lorenzo and his Mrs. show a bunch of exercises and techniques. Interspersed is footage of a "real" Lamaze class hosted by a woman with MASSIVE hair and lip gloss that is blindingly reflective. Finally, the Lamas' friends have their baby and actual footage of that birth closes out the film.

Yes, it was old. Yes, it was HILARIOUS. Yes, some of the content was actually wrong. And yes, many of the interviewees ended up not having a natural birth at all. However, there was one section in the middle where good ole Lorenzo highlights how important it is for partners to keep the mum as relaxed as possible. That was my main takeaway from this, although the refresher on the three stages of labor and the three phases of the first stage was useful, since it is a couple of months since we attended the class at Alta Bates.

Last night we watched "Laugh and Learn About Childbirth". This 2007 DVD (which Netflix warned had a "long wait", which was actually a couple of days) is an actual Lamaze class, hosted by an RN, lactation consultant and certified Lamaze instructor named Sheri Bayles. She's a little bit annoying, but she's clearly incredibly experienced, a great communicator and I'll begrudgingly admit she's pretty funny. The DVD is also endorsed by numerous Hollywood celebs with fake boobs, as you can see from the website, although it looks like the information is appropriate for women with real boobs too...

We learned A LOT. Stuff I didn't know included the six preliminary signs of labor, the three actual signs of labor, what to do when the water breaks, the new way of pushing (called "labouring down", as opposed to the older "directed pushing") along with a whole host of little tidbits of info (e.g. don't start timing contractions until she's having trouble talking through them).

All was going swimmingly until the section on cord blood banking, at which point the DVD turned into an infomercial for a company called Viacord. It was initially subtle, but by the end of the section it was blatant. We started wondering whether we'd been duped, taken advantage of, or whether this was just a practical way that she was able to get funding for this film. We decided that it didn't undermine the other info, but that we would simply ignore the blood banking section. It was a good reminder that EVERY birthing class comes with its own baggage, be it philosophical or financial.

We're now waiting for disc two, which covers medication, interventions, caesarians and the other stuff that we want to avoid but should know about. We also have another older VHS movie from the library called "Having Your Baby", which appears to be along the lines of last night's DVD in terms of content, only from the same time period as the Lorenzo Lamas video. The lip gloss should give it away...