How Childbirth Classes Changed My Life

One of the best compliments I ever got (aside from that one in college from my now-husband who said I looked like “springtime incarnate” and look where we are now) was from my midwife after my fourth birth.

I was remembering how absurdly intense the pressure felt during pushing and I wondered how typical that experience was. (For the record the labor was not crazy fast. But the pushing was, so I got all that pressure in one fell swoop).

Joani talked with me about it, but then she said “You made it look easy!”

Now, I didn’t take that as a compliment for some innate birthing talent that I have. (I don’t think they’d want me on America’s Got Talent anyway. For a few reasons.)

This is what everyone says when they are present at a birth, so, I don’t know, maybe?

I took it as a compliment to the hours and hours my husband and I spent during all four of my pregnancies learning, preparing, and practicing for this. 

Turns out it was worth it!

I learned what nutrients were helpful for growing a baby and a strong uterus and I ate foods with those nutrients.

I learned movements and ways of using my body during pregnancy. Ones that would help my baby get in a helpful position for labor and help my body be ready too.

My husband and I worked together on getting me into a state of deep relaxation to allow my mind, body, and emotions to work together with the strong contractions, rather than fighting them. We worked on this almost every day in the weeks leading up to all four births.

We worked on support and comfort techniques, movement and sounds, positions for labor and pushing, communication with each other and our birth team, and getting the supplies that would help me.

How did we know to do all this stuff? I’m a reader, so I read some good books for sure. But the main way?

Childbirth classes. Hands down. 

Am I exaggerating though? Did they really change my life?

I’m 100% convinced they did. 

My husband and I took a thorough childbirth class. This was no one-day free hospital class. This was weeks long. We made friends, we had a great time, and we learned things we didn’t know we needed to learn.

As a result of this birth class, at 29 weeks of pregnancy I actually ended up changing care providers and the place I was planning to give birth. And because of the way my first birth went, I know it would have been handled extremely differently in the first place than in the one I switched to. 

Because of that I learned to trust my body and to understand how it worked. I discovered that I am capable of incredible things. 

And I felt hugely empowered and satisfied by my birth. I did not feel scared or like my body didn’t work right. 

That is how my life was changed.

For me personally it also meant I went on to confidently give birth 3 more empowering times AND feel inspired to teach others how to do the same in all the ways that feel amazing to them. Not to mention, the certification process for becoming a childbirth educator directly resulted in inspiring me to become a birth photographer as well. I’d actually say it changed the way I think about other things in my life too, but that’s a story for another time.

My life would have been different if I hadn’t taken that birth class. 

(Side note: When I was ready to begin teaching, Jodi, my instructor from that class, was the one who encouraged me to look at Birth Boot Camp as an organization to teach with. BBC actually didn’t exist yet when I took a birth class with her, but she was so impressed by it that she thought I’d like it even better than the classes I took with her! She was absolutely right!)

Can childbirth classes change your life?

Now, I don’t usually do the hard sell. But here’s the thing:

I think you should take a childbirth class with me.

Even if you love your care provider. Even if you’ve watched tons of Tik Tok videos about birth. (I see you. 😉) Even if you’ve had a baby before.

Straight up: You don’t know what you don’t know. So please, take childbirth classes where an experienced instructor helps you and your partner feel fully prepared for your birth.

In my opinion, in-person classes are the absolute best option for learning and following through on practicing what you learn. (I also think they’re a lot more fun!) So I always recommend those first. You can take one with me if you live close to New Braunfels or San Marcos, TX. 

If you aren’t able to do an in-person class, the next best thing is the online class with video support calls with yours truly!

Go take a look at my class info with dates here.

If you want to sign up right now, send me an email at Mo************@gm***.com or you can go directly to my online registration form!

If you want to know more about why Birth Boot Camp specifically is the bees knees, you can email me for that too and we’ll talk!