Prepared Childbirth

Are you an expectant mother-to-be? Together with your husband, would you like to be more aware of what to expect in childbirth?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then prepared childbirth classes might just be the thing that you are looking for.

My husband and I took prepared childbirth classes under Chiqui Brosas Hahn. We took up Lamaze for our first child, Adi while Chiqui allowed us to do a review (she was already teaching Bradley by then) for my second child, Ali. Did I give birth naturally?

Adi's was natural childbirth -- no drugs, no anesthesia. I pushed for about an hour and there he was. I even managed to smile while in transition (which is supposed to be the hardest part in labor).

Ali's was supposed to be natural too -- and it was, up to the last point -- when I had been pushing with no anesthesia (still!) for almost three hours. It was at this time that my doctor and I decided to already do a caesarian as Ali's heartbeat was already getting weaker and I was getting weaker too. I just wanted the baby out!

And so I have tried both extremes -- natural childbirth, with no anesthesia and caesarian birth with all the anesthesia. Haha.

Did the classes help? Most definitely. It prepares you mentally and physically for labor and childbirth. In my younger days, I was deathly scared of giving birth -- maybe because I didn't know what it was all about. Much of the fear, I guess, comes from not knowing and from the thought that you may not be prepared enough.

And although you really can't prepare 100% for any birth as you do not know how it will go when it finally happens, having gone through the materials and exercises of childbirth class will help calm you and assure you that things will be alright no matter what.

To learn more about Chiqui Brosas Hahn and about her class offerings, you may visit her blog at www.chiquibrosas.com/blog/ You can also get her contact information from there.