Pregnancy diaries – Antenatal classes

Antenatal classes are designed to help you prepare for the arrival of your baby and we had ours very late on in my pregnancy.

For one reason or another we weren’t booked on antenatal classes until I was 38 weeks pregnant which is definitely pushing it, I was worried we might not make it!

We were booked in for the free NHS antenatal classes and it was pretty much a full day on a Sunday.

Fortunately it was at our local community hospital so we didn’t have to travel far or pay for parking – bonus!

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Breastfeeding workshop

The morning session was the breastfeeding workshop and this ran from 10-12pm.

We were one of 20 couples in this session and I found it really useful.

Lynne, a maternity healthcare assistant led the breastfeeding workshop. We talked about positioning, preparing your breasts for feeding, expressing milk and the benefits of breastfeeding.

I was really surprised to learn that you can store breast milk, either in a sterilised container or in special breast milk storage bags:

• in the fridge for up to five days at 4C or lower (you can buy cheap fridge thermometers online)
• for two weeks in the ice compartment of a fridge
• for up to six months in a freezer

Breast milk that’s been cooled in the fridge can be carried in a cool bag with ice packs for up to 24 hours.

We also talked about the importance of skin-to-skin contact with your baby for both mam’s and dad’s and why the golden hour in hospital is so important.

Not everyone can breastfeed and I was pleased that we also discussed formula feeding too.

I felt like I had a lot more confidence to really give breastfeeding a go once baby was here. I’ll share my breastfeeding journey in a separate post.

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Parent craft

I thought the name of the afternoon session was a little misleading actually! The aim of this parent craft workshop was to prepare you for labour and give tips for birthing partners on how they can support you.

Midwife Caroline was leading this session which ran from 1:30-4:30pm.

We started the session talking about pregnancy related issues we were having and Caroline gave us some helpful tips to relieve some of these.

I struggled throughout my third trimester with restless leg syndrome. The pain in my legs in bed just got worse further into my pregnancy and actually kept me awake at night.

Caroline showed us some stretches we can do to help relieve this pain, I tried them and it did make a difference! I only wish we’d had these classes earlier so I could have had this knowledge before.

We were then split into two groups, pregnant mam’s and the dad’s. We had to work together to talk through the different stages of labour using cards.

Caroline explained the different ways birthing partners can support you during labour from helping you to breathe and focus, massage techniques, positioning and of course encouraging you.

She also showed us how we can prepare our bodies for labour too – pelvic floor exercises, using a birthing ball, posture and positioning.

We also talked about the different pain relief options available and when you should call the hospital.

I hadn’t thought about using a tens machine but we bought one to try after this workshop and I used it during my labour I thought it helped!

She also provided us a list of really useful websites for further advice and information.

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Did you attend any parenting classes when you were pregnant? Have you any pearls of wisdom to share? Let me know in the comments below.

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Other related posts

Here’s how we found out we were expecting a baby – letting the cat out of the bag

Pregnancy diaries – testing for gestational diabetes

Here’s our experience of a hypnobirthing taster session

I ticked off most of to-do list thanks to the maternity VIP experience at JoJo Maman Bébé 

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