Prenatal Classes in London Ontario
Prenatal classes are all about prepping you for a positive birth experience and equipping you with knowledge and skills for childbirth.
What:
Prenatal classes in London, Ontario are an interactive, small group learning experience. You’ll learn all about birth and practice key skills for birth. The class is hands on, so get ready to get up and get moving.
When:
Prenatal classes are typically held once a month on Saturdays from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Lunch is for an hour – bring a bagged lunch, do take-out, or dine downtown. The day goes quickly and is a lot of fun!
2024/2025 – Winter Dates:
- December 7th
- January 11th
- February 8th
- March 9th (SUNDAY)
- April 5th
If these dates don’t work for you, or if the class is full, please contact us to discuss other options.
Where:
We host our in person prenatal classes in London, Ontario and meet at various locations. Your confirmation email will provide more information about location and parking.
Who:
Your registration is for 2 people – ie. you and your birth partner. Bring a water bottle, snacks, comfortable clothes you you can move in, and a yoga/exercise mat, and a large exercise/birth ball if you have one.
Cost:
$297 in total. Includes a comprehensive 80+ page digital workbook and guidebook that you can reference again after the class and during labour. Please note that full payment is required upon booking.
Prenatal Classes - Topics
Before Labour
- Birth considerations – your birth dream team, birth location, birth preferences, birth options, hopes, desires and wishes
- What to pack in your hospital bag or what to prepare for a home birth
- Options to encourage labour to begin
- Preparing yourself to fully engage in the experience of childbirth
- Postpartum planning considerations
- Self advocacy, using your voice, communication with care team
- Mindset for a positive birth
- Understanding how beliefs and biases impact birth experiences
- Neuroscience of pain – understanding what it is and how you can change pain
- Importance of movement, resilience, strength, endurance, nourishment, sleep, and stress management throughout your pregnancy
Practical Birth Skills and Strategies
- Relaxation
- Mindfulness
- Visualization
- Breathing techniques
- Positions for labour and delivery
- Movements for labour and delivery
- Comfort and coping measures
- Working with contractions and effective ways to manage labour intensities
- Pelvic biomechanics to create space and a flexible, open pelvis
- Energy management and energy conservation strategies
Labour
- Pre-term labour warning signs
- Full-term signs of labour
- The story of labour (stages of labour) – what happens, why it happens, what you may feel, and when to call the midwife or go to the hospital
- The range and spectrum of normal labour
- What happens when you arrive at the hospital
- Putting birth skills to use during actual labour
- Pain management – from natural strategies to pharmacological options
- The integral role of the birth partner before, during, and after birth
- Working with and not against your body to facilitate birth
- Keeping your nervous system calm and connected
Labour and the Birth Itself (ie. Delivery)
- Creating your birth space – setting up a helpful birth environment
- Keeping labour progressing – birth physiology and practical strategies
- Considerations for different types of births: undisturbed, vaginal, unmedicated, medicated, instrumented, Caesarean, or VBAC
- Medical interventions – the why or why not, risks, benefits, alternatives, options
- Decision making framework and self advocacy
- Best practice guidelines and research evidence
- The golden hour
- Immediate postpartum
Immediate Postpartum
- What to expect immediately postpartum
- Normal newborn things and newborn care
- Physical and emotional realities for new mamas
- Practical tips for postnatal recovery
- Resources available to you in the community (lactation consultant, pelvic floor health, etc)
- Postpartum mental health and mood
- Postpartum self-care for you AND your partner
Whole Person Perspective
- Courageously allowing YOUR birth story to unfold – letting go, tuning in, getting embodied, cultivating adaptability and resilience
- Giving yourself permission to feel and think, finding your voice and your inner power, being kind and gentle with yourself
- The physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual elements of giving birth
- How beliefs, biases, expectations, fears, mindset, anticipation, past experiences, and self-talk impact childbirth
- Navigating feelings of judgement, self-doubt, shame, disappointment, discouragement, failure, or trauma
- Accepting change, accepting help, accepting yourself
- Processing your birth story, adjusting to new realities, and navigating your primary relationships
- Transitioning to a new role, new identity, new expectations, new reality
Prenatal Classes - Topics
Before Labour
- Birth considerations – your birth dream team, birth location, birth preferences, birth options, hopes, desires and wishes
- What to pack in your hospital bag or what to prepare for a home birth
- Options to encourage labour to begin
- Preparing yourself to fully engage in the experience of childbirth
- Postpartum planning considerations
- Self advocacy, using your voice, communication with care team
- Mindset for a positive birth
- Understanding how beliefs and biases impact birth experiences
- Neuroscience of pain – understanding what it is and how you can change pain
- Importance of movement, resilience, strength, endurance, nourishment, sleep, and stress management throughout your pregnancy
Practical Birth Skills and Strategies
- Relaxation
- Mindfulness
- Visualization
- Breathing techniques
- Positions for labour and delivery
- Movements for labour and delivery
- Comfort and coping measures
- Working with contractions and effective ways to manage labour intensities
- Pelvic biomechanics to create space and a flexible, open pelvis
- Energy management and energy conservation strategies
Labour
- Pre-term labour warning signs
- Full-term signs of labour
- The story of labour (stages of labour) – what happens, why it happens, what you may feel, and when to call the midwife or go to the hospital
- The range and spectrum of normal labour
- What happens when you arrive at the hospital
- Putting birth skills to use during actual labour
- Pain management – from natural strategies to pharmacological options
- The integral role of the birth partner before, during, and after birth
- Working with and not against your body to facilitate birth
- Keeping your nervous system calm and connected
Labour and the Birth Itself (ie. Delivery)
- Creating your birth space – setting up a helpful birth environment
- Keeping labour progressing – birth physiology and practical strategies
- Considerations for different types of births: undisturbed, vaginal, unmedicated, medicated, instrumented, Caesarean, or VBAC
- Medical interventions – the why or why not, risks, benefits, alternatives, options
- Decision making framework and self advocacy
- Best practice guidelines and research evidence
- The golden hour
- Immediate postpartum
Immediate Postpartum
- What to expect immediately postpartum
- Normal newborn things and newborn care
- Physical and emotional realities for new mamas
- Practical tips for postnatal recovery
- Resources available to you in the community (lactation consultant, pelvic floor health, etc)
- Postpartum mental health and mood
- Postpartum self-care for you AND your partner
Whole Person Perspective
- Courageously allowing YOUR birth story to unfold – letting go, tuning in, getting embodied, cultivating adaptability and resilience
- Giving yourself permission to feel and think, finding your voice and your inner power, being kind and gentle with yourself
- The physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual elements of giving birth
- How beliefs, biases, expectations, fears, mindset, anticipation, past experiences, and self-talk impact childbirth
- Navigating feelings of judgement, self-doubt, shame, disappointment, discouragement, failure, or trauma
- Accepting change, accepting help, accepting yourself
- Processing your birth story, adjusting to new realities, and navigating your primary relationships
- Transitioning to a new role, new identity, new expectations, new reality
I loved everything. It was all amazing. The timing of everything was perfectly executed. I felt like we had enough time to learn and discuss the information. Can’t say enough good things. I’m seriously SO happy I did this.
This class was so much more than what I thought it would be. It is an amazing compliment to the other ways my husband and I are preparing for our first child.
I have realized that the whole process is a team effort!
My body knows what to do. The amount of options/alternative to help my body and baby was a huge eye opener for me.
I learned to prepare my body, but also my mind for birth.
Before the class, the first thing that came to mind about birth was pain. But after, I’m actually excited. I feel much better prepared especially with decision making during labour.
I loved everything. It was all amazing. The timing of everything was perfectly executed. I felt like we had enough time to learn and discuss the information. Can’t say enough good things. I’m seriously SO happy I did this.
This class was so much more than what I thought it would be. It is an amazing compliment to the other ways my husband and I are preparing for our first child.
I have realized that the whole process is a team effort!
My body knows what to do. The amount of options/alternative to help my body and baby was a huge eye opener for me.
I learned to prepare my body, but also my mind for birth.
Before the class, the first thing that came to mind about birth was pain. But after, I’m actually excited. I feel much better prepared especially with decision making during labour.
FAQ
Why should we sign up for in-person prenatal classes?
Getting information about birth is one thing. But sifting through to figure out what is important, relevant, and accurate is another.
And yes knowledge is power…but only when it’s used.
Here’s a current trend: many expecting parents want to prepare for birth so they look up information online. Some leave it at that. Some may take online self-paced courses. Others decide to attend a generic prenatal class. That’s all good.
But in these cases, what usually happens is that tons of information is shared…and that’s pretty much it.
Often, expecting parents don’t get clear guidance on what to DO with all the information. They don’t know what’s relevant and what isn’t. They don’t know what they’re NOT being taught that may be hugely important. They don’t have a chance to ask someone questions.
They are not taught how to practice important birth skills – to get the feeling in their hands and hearts and minds. Birth is an embodied experience connecting brain and body. Therefore when prepping for birth, it’s important to get into your brain and body! And a lot of google or youtube results just can’t create that experience.
So when actual labour begins and starts to require focus, many parents end up forgetting all the head knowledge they got online, and they get swept away in the current of medicalized childbirth.
Hesed Birth’s prenatal classes and workshops are designed with two goals in mind:
1. To equip you with exactly what you need to know about childbirth – no matter how your story unfolds; and
2. To create an environment where you can practice getting that knowledge into your hands and heart and body – so you feel comfortable actually USING your birth knowledge and skills on your big day.
Ultimately, we want you to have the best birth experience possible and we design our classes to that end.
Do you promote a certain birth technique?
Short answer: No we don’t.
Long answer: We’ve been doing this long enough to know that different approaches work for different people. And that’s ok!
We take the best from each approach but certainly don’t confine you to one birthing method, one technique, or one storyline. You are unique and so is your birth. Be free and explore all options! There is absolutely no judgement from us.
We do encourage you to come with an open mind and a willingness to engage in reflective thinking about your own biases, beliefs, expectations, narratives, and ideas surrounding birth.
One thing we highly value and seek to honour is the amazing inner knowledge of the body and our brilliant design to birth. Our belief the the power of a woman’s body and in the wisdom of physiological birth comes through in much of what we teach. And although we recognize birth can unfold in many different ways, we do encourage parents to take a “physiology first” approach when it comes to birth. You’ll learn all about the physiology of childbirth in our prenatal classes. Prepared to be wowed.
Do you offer other formats for prenatal classes?
Absolutely. We offer in-person group prenatal classes in London Ontario, and through the magic of the internet, we can also teach group prenatal classes virtually. Let us know if you have a small group you’d like us to offer a class to and we’ll make it happen.
You may also consider taking our self-paced online prenatal classes instead.
Mini-workshops are also an excellent way to get very specific training on one aspect of pregnancy, birth, or postpartum.
Do you offer private prenatal classes?
Yes we do. Private prenatal classes are ideal if you:
-
Prefer learning 1:1 rather than in a small group
-
Are having a planned C-section, have a higher risk pregnancy, or are on bed-rest
- You want to do a deep dive into a topic specific to your life (eg. vaginal birth with vaginismus)
- Are having a second or third child (or more) and just need a quick refresher
- Your work or personal schedule doesn’t allow for Saturdays off
- Have a history of trauma in your past (whether that is childhood abuse, past birth trauma, or something else) and may need more consideration, time, or space to process
We have met in homes, at our studio location in London, Ontario, and virtually.
Contact us to set up your personalized class.
At what point in my pregnancy should I register for prenatal classes?
It’s best to participate in prenatal classes sometime in your 2nd trimester and onwards (so from around 24-36 weeks). Don’t wait until too late though because you’ll want some time to digest all that you learn and to practice some of the techniques that you’ll be taught.
Who can I bring to the prenatal class?
When you register for in-person prenatal classes or mini workshops, you are reserving a space for two people. Feel free to bring whomever you want. Ideally this person would be your birth partner or someone who will be journeying with you during childbirth. You can also bring a friend or family member. If you come on your own, that is completely fine as well.
What do I need to bring with me?
Once you register for your prenatal class or workshops, you will be sent a welcome email with all the details. Please contact us with any questions!