Lamaze vs Bradley vs Brio - what's the difference?

Anonymous
All three are advocates of natural childbirth and minimizing unnecessary intervention. All three incorporate the birth partner into the process. But trying to figure out which one to take and from reading what's online it's hard to tell the difference (other than the obvious location, price, and length of the classes). Any insight from experienced moms who've taken these classes before?

In sum, if I'm giving birth in a hospital (Shady Grove) but want to go the natural childbirth route. What class will help me and my husband prepare ourselves the best? What are the key differences that we should consider before signing up?

Thank you!
Anonymous
I don't know about Brio -- that's a new one since I gave birth a few years ago. I believe it's a sort of spin-off from Bradley (not sanctioned -- I think Bradley is suing), and many instructors are former Bradley instructors.

Bradley is much more intensive than Lamaze. More info, more classes, etc.

I took a private Lamaze class, and it was an overview of the physiological process of birth, what to expect where I was giving birth (which was a birth center), and pain management techniques (mostly breathing exercises, relaxation/meditation, massage/touch that my husband could do, various positions, etc.)

Honestly, I liked my Lamaze class and it was all I wanted to do (Bradley was too much for me), but if I had been giving birth in a hospital with an OB and wanted to go natural, I think Bradley would have been the best preparation.
Anonymous
I had similar questions re: Bradley vs. Lamaze when I was deciding what class to take. I chose Bradley and am having a good experience. I didn't take Lamaze but this is how the differences were explained to me by my Bradley instructor. It's a difference in focus - the Bradley Method teaches women to close their eyes, tune out the world and tune into their bodies. Lamaze teaches women to keep their eyes open and stare at a focal point as a distraction. Bradley teaches women to breathe deeply for stress relief. Lamaze teaches different breathing patterns for different points in labor. I thought Bradley fit better with my yoga practice.

Also Bradley is focused more on natural birth than Lamaze. I really wanted to make friends with other women who were planning on having natural births.

I think the Bradley workbook and videos need a serious update and that's why this Brio class has started. I think it's a group of Bradley teachers who decided to make their own workbook. I haven't seen it. I would consider taking Brio if the teacher had good references.

A cool thing about Lamaze is their materials - much better than Bradley. I think we watched a Lamaze video in our Bradley class and my Bradley teacher emails their "the six steps to a better birth" http://www.injoyvideos.com/mothersadvocate/pdfs.html I friended Mother's Advocate on Facebook and they post good videos and little updates.

Best wishes!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Brio -- that's a new one since I gave birth a few years ago. I believe it's a sort of spin-off from Bradley (not sanctioned -- I think Bradley is suing), and many instructors are former Bradley instructors.

Bradley is much more intensive than Lamaze. More info, more classes, etc.

I took a private Lamaze class, and it was an overview of the physiological process of birth, what to expect where I was giving birth (which was a birth center), and pain management techniques (mostly breathing exercises, relaxation/meditation, massage/touch that my husband could do, various positions, etc.)

Honestly, I liked my Lamaze class and it was all I wanted to do (Bradley was too much for me), but if I had been giving birth in a hospital with an OB and wanted to go natural, I think Bradley would have been the best preparation.[/quote

Thanks so much for all of the great insight! Question to this poster: You noted that if you had been giving birth with an OB/in a hospital that you would have opted for Bradley. Is that because you think that Bradley better equips you to navigate the hospital setting?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Brio -- that's a new one since I gave birth a few years ago. I believe it's a sort of spin-off from Bradley (not sanctioned -- I think Bradley is suing), and many instructors are former Bradley instructors.

Bradley is much more intensive than Lamaze. More info, more classes, etc.

I took a private Lamaze class, and it was an overview of the physiological process of birth, what to expect where I was giving birth (which was a birth center), and pain management techniques (mostly breathing exercises, relaxation/meditation, massage/touch that my husband could do, various positions, etc.)

Honestly, I liked my Lamaze class and it was all I wanted to do (Bradley was too much for me), but if I had been giving birth in a hospital with an OB and wanted to go natural, I think Bradley would have been the best preparation.[/quote





Thanks so much for all of the great insight! Question to this poster: You noted that if you had been giving birth with an OB/in a hospital that you would have opted for Bradley. Is that because you think that Bradley better equips you to navigate the hospital setting?
Anonymous
i am a doula in this area so my thoughts come from that perspective.

i think that more important than the 'brand' of class is the teacher. teachers interpret the methods liberally sometimes, and so finding someone who comes highly recommended may be more useful than picking by method. also, finding a teacher who is also a doula, and who has attended births at shady grove and/or with your provider, would add a huge value to what you will be able to get out of the class. someone who attends births regularly, knows the hospital protocols, etc. has more to offer than someone who doesn't do that.

i agree that the general flavor of lamaze tends to be more inclusive of various birth options and less singularly focused on natural birth, whereas bradley is natural birth focused. on one hand i think bradley's focus on natural birth is great because it will really give you confidence and support for natural birth, but on the other hand i have found bradley to come off as kind of judgmental of moms who choose or need medication, and some moms who have taken bradley classes and end up with intervention feel they weren't adequately prepared or supported in that experience.

i agree also that the bradley materials are very outdated and often not evidence based. to be honest i think some of it sounds downright kooky. it is also heavily focused on the husband as coach and sometimes even seems to focus on husbands to the exclusion of mothers, which i have found at times to be off putting. again though, individual teachers interpret it in their own way, may have updated the materials, etc. brio birth was formed by former bradley instructors who were dissatisfied by the materials and by the bradley organization. there has been a lot of drama between bradley and brio. brio supposedly has more updated materials. however it just recently launched a month or two ago so i imagine they still have lot of kinks they are working out. i don't know much about the curriculum yet though since it's so new.

there are also less well known methods that people really enjoy. birthworks, birthing from within, etc. ... you can view a list of all kinds of area classes at www.birthoptionsalliance.org.

i think more important than any class is your birth provider -- if your provider is supportive, youv'e got a much better shot at a natural birth. if your provider has a typical OB mentality and most or all of her/his patients use pain medication, it's going to be an uphill battle no matter what class you take. and supportive doesn't mean that a doctor or midwife just tolerates natural birth but that they support it regularly, believe it has benefits, have tools to help you cope with pain, etc. also, i am clearly biased, but i think that having a doula is something that makes a huge difference in the hospital setting in terms of whether a natural birth happens or not.

i think preparing for natural birth in a hospital setting is very worthwhile. and i think there are two valuable parts -- one is learning some possibilities for coping with the sensations of labor (relaxation, breathing, position, etc) but the other is navigating the hospital system, understanding the interventions and their pros and cons, etc. so i think any preparation should incorporate both of these elements.

and i also think it's valuable to remember that women have been having babies for a long time and for much of that time there were no childbirth classes, so in terms of actual coping skills for labor, while i think it's valuable to learn and practice some in advance, women in labor who are given the space and time to do so almost always find their own ways of breathing, moving, and relaxing that are really effective. so i think while learning is valuable, so is trusting yourself that when the time comes, you will develop your own unique way to make it through.

best of luck to you!

Anonymous
You didn't mention hypnobirthing. We're taking a hypnobirthing class right now and are really enjoying it. I looked into Bradley, Lamaze and Hypnobirthing and the philosophy behind hypnobirthing really resonated with us. Bradley seemed a bit too husband focused for me and also too anti-intervention as if we'd always have to be on guard during labor. But, lamaze didn't seem to focus enough on natural childbirth. I think hypnobirthing is great in teaching relaxation techniques (I already feel them working in reducing everyday stress and tension) and providing an important role for your support person. And again, the philosophy that fear should be removed from labor and childbirth perceived as a natural, normal event just makes sense to me and my husband. Our hypnobirthing instructor also talks about cases where interventions really are necessary, which I find helpful. Our OB also recommended hypnobirthing as his patients that have used it have had good outcomes.
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