Midwifery and Bradley Classes

Tuesday was my first visit back to the midwife after the initial "yes, you're pregnant, let's draw blood and here's a bunch of stuff you should read" visit.

Everything seems to be clocking along pretty well, although I may have put on a little more weight than is fairly typical, not that she's concerned about it. I'm not surprised considering I have an insatiable need to eat every hour and a half, although it's all pretty healthy stuff. It's just more than I'm used to eating, and my queasiness has only translated into vomiting once, so I'm keeping it all down.

A month has been a long time to read and learn about what it takes to grow a baby, so naturally I had a host of questions to ask Kathy (my midwife), and in fact I was doing a little bit of undercover interviewing as well, just to be sure I wanted to continue with her as my caregiver or consider other CNMs. However, after our conversation as well as some feedback I've heard about Kathy's reputation, I think we're a good fit and I feel very comfortable with her. You can check her out if you'd like! Here's Kathy's website.

We are very convinced we prefer a midwife over an Ob-Gyn as they are less predisposed to medical intervention. I plan on being in a hospital with access to medical care should there be an emergency, but from what I'm learning I really do prefer and think it's in both my and the baby's best interests to go for as natural (no drugs or surgery) birth as possible. Although that thought is quite overwhelming and scary for me right now, millions of other women have done it (right?) and there are steps I can take to educate and empower myself.

One of these steps is registering for a Bradley class. Bradley and Lamaze are two of the more well-known birth/labor preparation courses, and Bradley is pretty intensive. The Bradley Method is based on the belief that birth is a normal, physiological process, and that the majority of women, with the right preparation and support, can give birth without routine medical interventions.

Eric and I are signed up for a Spring course, which lasts for approximately 9 weeks, one 3 hour class per week, starting March 26. Yowza. You can check out further details here. This particular instructor comes highly recommended by at least 3 people I know personally so we feel good about this decision.

Having said all that, if it comes down to it and medical intervention IS critical, then so be it.

I have to say though as well that I am hugely excited and encouraged because my lovely friend Susan, who is a doula, has offered to be with me at the birth. Doulas are something new for me as well, I didn't know much about them before, but it sounds like they're pretty awesome to have around. But this post has been long enough already so I'll wait for another time to devote to educating y'all to 'What is a Doula?' The "y'all" is a nod to Susan - she's from Tennessee...