Lamaze Classes in NoVA?

[nabailey]

I've been debating between the Bradley classes versus Lamaze, but am having a hard time finding Lamaze teachers in the NoVA area. I tried their website, but it just lists one teacher - H. Christy Bergemann.

I'm hoping for a natural birth, but open to whatever is medically necessary, and thought Lamaze would be a good balance.

Any recommendations for an instructor in the area?

And, for those who have taken Lamaze, did you feel it was beneficial and how far along were you when you took the classes?

(I'm only 3 months along, and we live in Alexandria, but I'm willing to do Arlington/Falls Church, etc.)

TIA.

[Anonymous]

I took an "express" class through Fairfax Inova. I dragged my hubby on the nicest day of spring into a blah room with a monotone instructor that dragged the class out for the full 6 hours.

In hindsight, it didn't help and wished I had skipped it. The L&D nurses gave me all the instructions needed since I completely forgot all the breathing and counting (my husband remembered when it came time to push, but I was too much "in the zone" to pay attention) that we talked about for 6 hours. Then again, I went into the hospital at 715am and had a beautiful baby girl at 1234pm so I consider myself blessed to have a relatively quick labor.

That was just me personally. The only thing I did remember from the class was the different phases of contractions and dilation.

Just my 2 cents.

[nabailey]

Wow, 5 hours sounds wonderful!
Thanks for the honest opinion.

[Anonymous]

I am also on the search for Lamaze class and I haven't heard back from the one instructor listed. Anyone have any more information?[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

The 2306 poster here again.

I don't remember the nurse who instructed the "birth express" class, but if you look at Fairfax Inova's classes website there should be a listing of the class times and dates and the instructors. If you find a class and post it on this thread with the instructor name then I might recognize it. Hec, maybe I'll dig up my confirmation letter and see if the name was listed on it.

[nabailey]

It's strange. I guess I expected there to be more Lamaze instructors - I thought it was reasonably popular.

I'm delivering at VHC Arlington and signed up for the childbirth class there, but there are no names of instructors posted on their website.

[Anonymous]

I knew I would probably have a Csection for various reasons but wanted to go thru the Lamaze class. LOVED our instructor thru INOVA health (something like CAtherine Ingleterra??). We took class at FAir Oaks but I think they offer them at all the hospitals. We chose to do the 2 hour or so 1x a week for like 5 weeks or something like that and loved it. My husband can't watch ER without getting woosey and gets all nervous in medical type situations... I figured best to ease him in and so that's why we decided to stretch things out.....
It was a great "Date Night" for us -- we'd get dinner, go to class, etc. I thought a great way to get him involved in what was going on -- relaly made him feel much more part of the process. AND it was cool to be with other preggos and new daddies to be. We did it (and everyone in my class) at the end of the pregnancy -- one woman wasn't sure she would make it to all the classes! Even though I ended up having a Csection -- SO glad I went thru the class... and will prob do a refresher if we are lucky enough to be pregnant again!

[Anonymous]

I knew I would probably have a Csection for various reasons but wanted to go thru the Lamaze class. LOVED our instructor thru INOVA health (something like CAtherine Ingleterra??). We took class at FAir Oaks but I think they offer them at all the hospitals. We chose to do the 2 hour or so 1x a week for like 5 weeks or something like that and loved it. My husband can't watch ER without getting woosey and gets all nervous in medical type situations... I figured best to ease him in and so that's why we decided to stretch things out.....
It was a great "Date Night" for us -- we'd get dinner, go to class, etc. I thought a great way to get him involved in what was going on -- relaly made him feel much more part of the process. AND it was cool to be with other preggos and new daddies to be. We did it (and everyone in my class) at the end of the pregnancy -- one woman wasn't sure she would make it to all the classes! Even though I ended up having a Csection -- SO glad I went thru the class... and will prob do a refresher if we are lucky enough to be pregnant again!

[cmsmeade]

I knew I would probably have a Csection for various reasons but wanted to go thru the Lamaze class. LOVED our instructor thru INOVA health (something like CAtherine Ingleterra??). We took class at FAir Oaks but I think they offer them at all the hospitals. We chose to do the 2 hour or so 1x a week for like 5 weeks or something like that and loved it. My husband can't watch ER without getting woosey and gets all nervous in medical type situations... I figured best to ease him in and so that's why we decided to stretch things out.....
It was a great "Date Night" for us -- we'd get dinner, go to class, etc. I thought a great way to get him involved in what was going on -- relaly made him feel much more part of the process. AND it was cool to be with other preggos and new daddies to be. We did it (and everyone in my class) at the end of the pregnancy -- one woman wasn't sure she would make it to all the classes! Even though I ended up having a Csection -- SO glad I went thru the class... and will prob do a refresher if we are lucky enough to be pregnant again!

[nabailey]

Thanks cmsmeade.
I wonder if the hospital class is Lamaze'ish'. Will call and ask.

[cmsmeade]

sorry for my multiple posts -- don't know what happened!
it was very lamase-ish -- the instructor was certified thru whatever the lamaze association is. he went back to the hospital for a separate hospital tour and ended up also doing their CSection class as part of it. But no == the lamaze class offered thru INOVA is really lamaze.

[Anonymous]

Did you use the lamaze.org website to search for an instructor? I just did a search on VA and found 5 pages of results -- Fairfax, Fairfax Station, Herndon, Springfield, Fredericksburg, Alexandria, Ashburn, etc.

For our first child we took a Lamaze class through Inova and were very satisfied. For number two, I found a teacher through the lamaze.org website who was willing to give us a refresher course. It was great, her name is Pam Rinn.

For what it is worth, while neither of my births were natural (I ended up with C-sections for both), I did find the Lamaze method very helpful during the hours of labor leading up to the birth. If you are truly dedicated to natural child birth, then I recommend the Bradley method. My mother did the Bradley method and successfully had a natural birth experience. The Bradley training is much more of a time commitment though -- although my mom learned hers from a book!

[nabailey]

PP - I did try the lamaze.org website and only got one person. Something must've been up with the site, because I just went back and tried it again and got more instructors.

It's good to know that you found the classes helpful even while having a C-section. Sounds like they won't be a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

The Lamaze websites are kind of confusing -- there's one specifically for the DC area that shows many more class options in Virginia:

http://www.lamaze-dc.com/classes.php

Speaking of which, we happened to take the one-day express Lamaze class yesterday with Brenda Zepf in Springfield, VA. My husband and I both found it to be very helpful -- I highly recommend it. The instructor was non-judgmental about the various options (pain medication/epidural vs. natural childbirth) and yet at the same time quite encouraging/empowering for those who wanted to go the natural route.

Some of the information felt a little basic to me given the reading/talking to friends I've done over the months, but other parts were new and I very much liked the practical exercises about positions and breathing to get through contractions. My husband found the whole thing useful and empowering for him, too -- both in adjusting his expectations (um, he had no clue! ) and in gathering ideas he can use to support me when the time comes. (I felt like Brenda was particularly good at including the husbands at every stage of the class.)

Good luck! (By the way, we took the class at 34 weeks pregnant -- it seemed like mt of the others in the class were at the 25-30 week mark.)

[Anonymous]

PP - Thanks! That site is perfect. It's got the schedule or classes and everything.

I was wondering if Lamaze was multiple sessions or just a one day class, and also how far along you're supposed to take it. So this totally answered my questions.

Brenda Zepf sounds like she'd be a good fit for us - I can appreciated non-judgemental. I saw her schedule on the DC website you linked to.

Good luck with the remaining FEW weeks of your pregnancy!