How to choose a birth class in chicago
We are so lucky to be in a major metropolitan area where there are so many options for birth. There are so many options for hospitals, providers, doulas, and childbirth classes!
So how do you pick a class that is right for you?
The most common type of class that you are gonna find when you search Google is the hospital birth class. These are often taught by hospital staff, typically a labor and delivery nurse, and are usually free and available to the public and patients of that hospital. A really common one is the U Chicago Hospital class in Hyde Park.
These classes are often full of useful information like the comfort measures available at the hospital, what their NICU looks like, the stages of labor, when to come to the hospital, and more. They are a great resource and I often encourage people in my class to also take their hospital’s birth class as a supplement to a comprehensive childbirth class. They may even offer an infant CPR class, which many parent want. However, when people hire me I usually encourage them to go beyond the hospital birth class.
Hospital classes are not going to teach you really important skills like advocacy, understanding the research behind routine hospital practices, and giving you weekly practice for mind control (meditation, mindfulness, hypno birthing techniques) and hands on practice for comfort measures.
Those are all things you’ll find in what I would call “comprehensive childbirth classes”. These are clases taught by certified childbirth instructors, usually doulas and midwives who are independent from your provider and therefore can give you unbiased feedback about your birth plan. In short, these classes are not going to teach you “how to be a good patient”.
Now, these comprehensive classes come in various shapes, sizes, and flavors. I’m going to lay out some of my favorite recommendations so you can pick the one that’s right for you.
Finding the Right Class for You
First up, I’ll tell you about the class I teach. I’m biased but I think it’s awesome.
Evidence Based Birth
Evidence Based Birth was started by a researcher with her PhD in nursing, Rebekka Dekker. This 6 week class is hybrid in Chicago and dives into the evidence around routine interventions in hospitals, birth centers, and home births. We cover comfort measures, stages of labor, common interventions, informed decision-making, advocacy, birth preferences, and ways your partner can support you during labor.
I also offer a postpartum meet up after all the babies arrive!
Who would love this class:
people who feel empowered & safe by having more information
people excited to do independent learning/reading outside of class
couples wanting to understand their options with interventions and the medicalized spectrum
anyone looking for an empowered birth who feels great with more book knowledge
people looking to meet other couples in person
Birthing From Within
Taught by Mel Haley, a certified doula and childbirth educator since 2019, Birthing From Within is a 4 week in person class in Chicago, Illinois.
In class you will build resilience, tune into your own inner wisdom, and connect with yourself, your baby, and your partner. You will explore both the sacred and the scientific to help you prepare for birth. This class goes beyond the intellectual (though you’ll learn plenty of that too!) to enrich your access to your inner knowing and coping skills.
Mel’s classes are like group coaching sessions where you’ll learn
Who might enjoy this class:
pregnant people with diverse learning styles (Mel was a teacher for a decade before becoming a doula!)
people who want to avoid online learning
couples excited by learning about ancient stories of heroes, goddesses, and human endurance.
queer and trans families looking for a queer provider
people seeking a balance of information and transformative ritual
Read more from Mel about BFW here and click the button below for class offerings.
the Power Of Birth: Weekend Intensive
Up next is my dear friend Leila Walker’s weekend intensive childbirth class.
This is a two-day class, meeting Saturday & Sunday from 12-5 on Chicago’s North side. In The Power of Birth, Leila helps prepare pregnant people and their partners for childbirth. Through deep examination of how your body prepares for, labors and gives birth, you will discover the amazing changes that will take place.
Moms leave class feeling confident in her ability to birth her baby. You’ll dive into the most current, evidence based information about pregnancy, labor, and childbirth. You’ll learn to speak up, ask questions, and make informed decisions for yourself and your baby.
We assist parents in examining the kind of birth you want, the many options that are available to you, and the importance of flexibility. In our Childbirth Classes, we welcome moms with their partners, same-sex couples, and single parents that are preparing for both hospital and at-home births, receiving care from Midwives or Obstetricians, and who have single or multiple pregnancies. The class draws from many different birth philosophies: Informed Beginnings, BirthWorks, Lamaze, and Bradley.
Who might enjoy this class:
couples with a limited availability, where a multi-week class is not possible
people who thrive in a larger group and enjoy a fast paced, energetic environment.
folks with diverse learning styles
queer and trans families looking for a queer provider
Click the button for upcoming class dates.
Holistic Guide to Childbirth
Taught by doula, midwifery student, and mom of 3 Coté Garceau, this class dives into the human, sacred, and embodied experience of birth.
From her website: “You’ll receive both grounded information and intuitive tools that support you in approaching birth with more confidence, calm, and trust. Not just to “cope,” but to surrender and to welcome birth with presence and love.”
Who might enjoy this class:
birthers who place a high value on a hollistic experience
couples interested in private class sessions
folks who enjoy meditation, song, movement, and ritual.
this is a very popular class for couples working with midwives and in the community birth setting
Spinning Babies
Spinning Babies is a well regarded online resource for pregnant people and providers - but did you know they have classes too? Yep! This class centers on the partner helping their loved one through position changes and movements to ease labor and promote optimal fetal positioning. Taught by veteran doula Rebekkah Carney, you’ll learn What you will learn:
What to expect in various stages of labor
How and when to provide comfort measures
What postpartum looks like and how to best support in that time
Who might enjoy this class:
partners looking to learn how to be very hands-on during pregnancy and birth
second-time parents with a history of sunny-side-up, asynclitic or breech babies, looking for a more empowered experience this time around
VBACs looking to stack the odds in their favor
athletes, yogis, or otherwise physical-centered people who love moving and tuning in to their body
Gentle Birth
This class is mindfulness-focused, very similar to the once popular hypnobabies/hypnobirthing classes. Heather McCullough is a midwife of 25 years, doula, and childbirth educator.
From her website:
“GentleBirth covers all the usuals… dilation, effacement, station…early labor, active, transition and pushing. While also bringing in some bigger tools like the Online Course and the GentleBirth App. Plus learning self-hypnosis, cognitive behavioral training, mindfulness, and sports psychology.”
I wanted to include this GentleBirth class in my list because SO many people find learning self-hypnosis to be a total game changer for their birth.
Who might enjoy this class:
meditators, yogis, and anyone else interested in the power of the mind
couples who enjoy using Apps for learning
people worried about the pain of labor or afraid of needles and epidurals
couples looking for a live but online course
How to choose
okay phew! That’s a LOT of options right? Only you can decide the best option for you. In this blog I tried to add in various factors that might influence your decision like online vs. in-person, cost, duration of the course, the amount of homework, and the style of teaching you will experience. If you have any questions about how to pick a class or what might be right for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me with your questions. I’d love to get to know you!
Lots of love!
-Carly Ann
A note on bad grammar- in a world of large language models producing much of the writing on the internet right now, I leave my affected and un-academic writing very lightly edited. I hope some obviously human writing by way of a run-on sentence feels cozy and real to you.
Thanks for reading
