Bradley Class Numero Uno

Last night, Jay and I attended our first Bradley childbirth class. The instructor, Chan McDermott, came highly recommended to us not only from the midwives at the Austin Area Birthing Center, but from several patients who overheard the initial recommendation and had to add their testimonials as well.

Classes are held at a Gymboree in Austin. I had never been inside a Gymboree before. It is a padded, colorful wonderland for tots. There are slides, and tunnels, and monkey bars, things to climb on, things to jump off of, and padded foam mats as far as the eye can see. They offer art classes, skill building at all levels (2 months-5 years old), and it makes for easy play dates for the youngin's to interact with kids their own age. Here at the airport there is one kid under 5, two teenagers, and that's it. And I doubt there will be any new additions in the near future. So if we want our baby to even see another baby we may have to consider something like Gymboree in the future.

We found that of the 10 other couples enrolled in our class, more than half came from the Austin Area Birth Center. Our instructor was apparently AABC's very first water birth 15+ years ago. I believe every couple in the room was expecting their first child, and everyone was only having one child (no twins). So we had alot in common with these people right off the bat.

We learned about the history of the Bradley method and its variations from other childbirth classes, the importance of posture, squats, and Keegals, and the role the men are playing in all of this. Jay did very well spotting me during our practice exercises and he wouldn't let me cheat on the pelvic rocks- which are hard to do with a baby in the way. I think he'll prove to be a solid coach down the road. He didn't even squirm during the birth videos!