Online Childbirth Education - A New Way to Prepare for Your Baby's Birth
Childbirth education plays a vital role in how positively you later view your birth experience. The more childbirth education you receive, the more likely you are to view your birth experience positively. This becomes especially important as current research reveals that women recall their birth experiences with amazing clarity, for better or for worse. Education is the best way to ensure that your view of birth becomes a positive one.
Some additional benefits of attending childbirth classes are:
1. Shorter Labors
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2. Decreased need for interventions
3. Less use of medications during and after birth
4. Shorter recovery times
Child birth education not only benefits mothers, but birth companions as well. Emotional support plays a critical role in the birth process. When you receive emotional support in birthing, from a trusted birth companion or a professional labor support person such as a doula, you feel more relaxed and in control. The use of labor support persons has been shown to reduce cesarean section rates by as much as 50%.
While most expectant women desire to attend childbirth education classes, many cannot due to scheduling conflicts, financial constraints, or lack of availability. With the average obstetrician seeing more than 40 patients per day with an average patient contact time of 5 minutes, there is simply no way physicians alone can provide comprehensive childbirth education as part of routine prenatal care. Pregnant women must pursue alternate avenues to gain the necessary education concerning their upcoming birth.
The development of online childbirth education courses eliminates the barriers most women face when researching childbirth education. They provide unlimited access at your convenience, are more comprehensive than hospital courses, are more cost-effective than commercially-available courses and eliminate the need for to find a childbirth educator in your area.
Some women just aren't comfortable discussing their pregnancy and birth experience with others. They may feel uncomfortable sitting in a group of strangers and may not be able to afford the luxury of private classes.
In these situations, online childbirth education can provide these women the opportunity to learn more about childbirth in the comfort of their own home.
Catherine Beier has dedicated her career to the empowerment and education of expectant women. As the author of GivingBirthNaturally.com, she has educated women worldwide on evidence-based childbirth education and practices. Concern over the number of women unable to attend childbirth education classes inspired her to create Birthright, a 14-lesson online childbirth education curriculum. To learn more about Birthright, view the table of contents, or to register for the course, visit Birthright: Online Child Birth Education
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Catherine is the mother of two daughters born naturally.
