Yes, do the DC Birth Doulas class. We did a few months ago and it was great. $200 I think for the full day.

My Bradley instructor, Annie Harold, offers a natural childbirth class at the Breastfeeding Center. It's much more condensed than Bradley (4 weeks instead of 10), but goes over the natural childbirth basics as well as info about interventions. I think it's closer to $200 in cost.

OP here. Thanks for the suggestions. Susan Messina's class is really expensive--$400. Are there any that don't cost quite so much?

Second rec for Susan Messina. Took the condensed class though, and found it really helpful - obviously can't compare to the full class, but felt well prepared both informationally (about both interventions, since sometimes stuff happens/has to happen and strategies for natural birth) and in terms of having though preferences, mindset, etc through.

We loved Susan Messina's class (http://www.susanmessina.com/). She covers the full range of interventions, what to expect, etc., and doesn't just do one method, i.e., Bradley or Lamaze, etc. It was an 8 week class, which was definitely a commitment, but I thought well worth it. We learned a ton both in class, and from discussions we ended up having after class.

Sharon Stevenson at Yoga Birth and Beyond is great. She's so informative and teaches hypnobirthing. She's in Alexandria though.

I just finished a childbirth class with a wonderful lamaze instructor prinn@verizon.net. She is very pro-natural birth and less intervention. I would recommend telling her upfront to get more details on it. http://lamaze-dc.com/directory.htm

FTM in DC looking for recs for a good child birth class. We are planning a natural birth, will have a doula, and my husband wants to be very involved. Delivering at GWU but have heard their classes aren't the best. Any recs for childbirth classes or instructors? I do want to be aware of interventions and understand them even though we're planning a natural birth--if things go awry I want to be informed. I don't have a preference for method--nor do I really understand the differences between Bradley, Lamaze, etc. If you could tell me why you liked your class/teacher, that would be helpful.