Rachel & Sze Men

Was ini­tially afraid that the class would be attended and con­ducted by a bunch of “earth mamas” want­ing to embrace pain, and talk new age mumbo jumbo. Didn’t think I needed a birth plan, or to know the options avail­able to me dur­ing child­birth. Options? You mean there are options? I was just think­ing of going in and doing what­ever the good nurses & doc told me to. The classes opened my eyes to the choices I had, and how lit­tle I knew about what I was to go through.
Ginny & Diann were pas­sion­ate and knowl­edge­able about what they taught, pre­sent­ing the pros and cons of every deci­sion, so we could make the most informed deci­sions. Knowl­edge is truly enpow­er­ing! As a first time mum, I had so many fears about labour, but hav­ing attended the class on birth options and labour, I knew what to expect, and what to do and went on to have a nat­ural birth with no drugs, no inter­ven­tions and lots of sup­port from a hus­band who had also ben­e­fited from the classes! Your breast­feed­ing class really pre­pared me for the real thing, and nurs­ing Baby Chuan En has been won­der­ful from the start. You know what? I can’t wait to have num­ber two and more! Thanks for help­ing my birth expe­ri­ence to be a mar­vel­lous one!
– Rachel, first time par­ent who attended Ante­na­tal Class 2, 3 and 4, who later had a drug free birth with­out a doula.

As a hus­band, I found the classes empow­er­ing because of the knowl­edge that I gained to par­tic­i­pate in this won­der­ful process of hav­ing a kid. It is funny (and sad?) that we spend so much time on our work, hob­bies etc., but choose not to spend as much time find­ing out about how to best sup­port our wives in their preg­nancy, labor and infant care. The classes are prac­ti­cal and not bor­ing. I remem­bered the role-​playing that was done in the birth option class dur­ing my wife’s labor, so I knew what to expect. Show­ing us 6 bot­tles of for­mula milk (what the tin of milk instructs you to feed your child each day) and one walnut(the size of baby’s stom­ach) really brought home the point how lit­tle an infant really needs to take in at each feed at the start, and why breast-​feeding is more effec­tive. The ques­tions raised by dif­fer­ent cou­ples in the small classes also made the lessons inter­ac­tive and impact­ful. The 3–4 hours spent each week in class were def­i­nitely worth every minute. — Rachel’s hus­band, Sze Men