Instructors: Britt Sando, CD, ICBLC, Rebecca Stein, LCCE & Donna Scales
About Our Childbirth Education Programs
At the Midwives of New Jersey, we offer a comprehensive childbirth education series grounded in our philosophy of caring for the whole person through the process of having a child. We offer both a four week, evening series, or a condensed but complete intensive course held on two consecutive Sundays.Our focus is on normal birth and on providing you and your partner concrete, holistic strategies for managing pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. We will discuss ways to manage the intensity of labor and birth, emphasizing simple, intuitive comfort measures and relaxation. We’ll talk about when to go to your birthplace, the stages of labor and birth, and waterbirth. You’ll learn about self- advocacy, birth planning, common interventions and when they are appropriate, newborn procedures, and the postpartum time.
The emphasis of our class is on the normal and joyful processes of labor and birth, and the contiuum between pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and caring for your newborn. With education and knowledge, we believe birth should be something to look forward to, not something to fear.
We recommend registering for our Breastfeeding and Baby Care classes, or the combined weekend session, as part of our complete prepared childbirth series.
Cost for Comprehensive Childbirth Series: $300
Cost for Weekend Intensive Childbirth Series: $300
Cost for Breastfeeding and Baby Care: $50 each, or $100 for weekend combo
Childbirth Refresher Class
During the two hour childbirth refresher class, you’ll have the opportunity to “get your head in the game” for your upcoming birth and breastfeeding journey. We will discuss pregnancy comfort measures that experienced moms need desperately. Was pregnancy this hard the first time? Often caring for our families overshadows the self-care that we so badly need. This includes quick relaxation techniques that fit easily into everyday life, and simple techniques to ensure that baby is in a good position for birth (and that may help your aching back).
We will discuss ways to manage the intensity of labor and birth, emphasizing simple, intuitive comfort measures and relaxation. We’ll talk about when to go to the hospital, the stages of labor and birth, waterbirth, and VBAC (if applicable). Its also important to think about the postpartum period, when care of mom and baby makes a “fourth trimester” plan crucial to a family’s adjustment. Parents will have the opportunity to talk about past birth and breastfeeding experiences, and to discuss resources and strategies for the future.
Cost for Refresher Course: $75
Who Should Attend Our Childbirth Class?
If this is your first baby, its been a long time since you’ve had a baby, or this is your first time trying for a natural birth, waterbirth or VBAC, our classes will provide the information, confidence, and tools that you need approach your birth with confidence, excitement, and power. Your partner, too, will feel empowered in the crucial role of labor support- equipped to help the laboring mother calmly, lovingly, and with confidence.
If you are a patient with the Midwives of New Jersey, our postpartum MotherCare class is included as a continuation of our holistic, mind-body model (available to non-patients for an additional fee.) The comprehensiveness of our classes is unique; an approach which looks at pregnancy, labor, birth, and the first few months as a continuum between mother and baby, one that can be supported by an involved and knowledgeable partner. Approach your upcoming birth without fear, armed with the information and confidence to make good choices, surrender to labor, and get off on the right foot with breastfeeding and caring for your newborn baby.
