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Understanding your pregnancy and knowing what to expect can help you feel more confident and relaxed. A wide variety of classes on many topics of interest are available to you now at clinics and hospitals in your area. For more information, ask your doctor or nurse-midwife during your next call or visit.

Here are general categories for prevalent classes we see around the nation.

Pregnancy Health Class

Provides important information about your baby's development and tips for making pregnancy easier and more comfortable.

Birth and Parenting Preparation

Basic instruction about relaxation and breathing techniques, medicines and medical procedures, birth-plans, nursing and baby-care. Register so that you finish this class about 1 month before your due date.

Breastfeeding Preparation

Courses like this cover the basics of breastfeeding, resources for support and how to avoid problems.

All About Babies

This class is designed to relieve the anxiety that expectant parents, grandparents and adoptive expectant parents may feel about infant care. It is best taken during your second trimester.

Expectant Father Class

Addressing many concerns of fathers-to-be, these types of classes go beyond the role of "labor companion," and into the realm of being a supportive partner, concerns and fears about labor and childbirth, and the balance of parenting and work.

Pregnant with Multiples Class

Focusing on remaining healthy during this more complicated pregnancy, this class helps you to understand the risks of multiple pregnancy, labor and birth preparation and how to care for several newborns.

Prepared Childbirth Classes

These classes are typically taken so you finish them about a month before your baby is due. They focus on learning how to cope with labor and birth. Try to attend with your partner or labor companion.

Refresher Birth Preparation

Questions like "How is this pregnancy different from my previous one(s)?," as well as those relating to breathing, massage techniques, changes in labor and delivery procedures, relaxation and cesarean birth are answered here. These are prepared childbirth classes designed specifically for parents who have already had a baby. These classes include a review of the topics covered in prepared childbirth classes and include sibling adjustment issues. This class should also be scheduled so that you finish about 1-month before your due date.