FAQ

All Your Questions About Our Prenatal Classes Answered

Your prenatal class will include:

Small classes of 6-8 couples ensure a personal approach.
Stages of labour & birth
Learn & practice pain-coping approaches
Creating a supportive environment at home and hospital
Affirming partner’s role and needs

Birth fears, cesarean birth, and informed consent
Baby care basics & breastfeeding
Postpartum health and transition to parenthood
Special PDF Resource Guide
Exclusive pain-coping audio CD for practice at home.

When should I start my childbirth class?

Sign up early if you can so you get the class you want. Most people are in their 6th or 7th month of pregnancy when they start their prenatal class. We recommend that you sign up for a prenatal class that finishes within 3 – 12 weeks of your due date. You will appreciate having time to integrate the information and comfort measures.

Should I choose a weekend prenatal class or a weekly series?

Your work and travel schedule will likely be the most important factors but also reflect on your learning style and goals. Some do best with an immersion-style weekend class, and others prefer to progress in smaller doses with a weekly series. The content of both courses is identical. Weekly series are one evening per week for six weeks starting on the date shown; weekend classes run Friday evening and Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Your choice of three convenient Vancouver and Lower Mainland childbirth class locations.

We teach out of three Vancouver locations and online for our childbirth classes:

Bloom Community Midwives which is located in Downtown Vancouver,

Pomegranate Midwives in East Vancouver / Hastings-Sunrise and

Pacific Midwives is close to Granville Island.

Dancing Cat Yoga Studio New Westminster

We are currently running some of our prenatal classes online. Check our calendar for upcoming classes.

What Makes Us Unique?

Like most prenatal classes, we cover:

Stages of labour
Fetal positioning
Comfort measures – TENS, tapes, visualizations, water, acupuncture
Physical labour support – massage and positions
Timing – calling care providers, going to the hospital
Pain medications – options and procedures
Cesarean birth – what to expect
The first 24 hours
Breastfeeding
Baby care
Postpartum – mom’s recovery and healing

What is the Curriculum?

Class 1

Where do you get your information from?
Medical Provider Overview
Community Providers
Place of Birth - When to go to the hospital!
Birth Movie
Comfort Measures
Pregnancy Tips

Class 2

Early Labour / Physiology of Birth
Hormones of birth
Phases of Birth
Comfort Measures - Breathe Awareness, Sounds, Touch
How to be a good birth partner
Newborn Sleep

Class 3

Early Labour
- What does it feel like?
- What is happening in your body
- What do you do during this phase?
- What the partner can do during this phase
Active Labour
- What does it feel like?
- What is happening in your body
- What do you do during this phase?
- What the partner can do during this phase
- Comfort Measures
Pushing
- What does it feel like?
- What is happening in your body
- What do you do during this phase?
Comfort Measures - Hip Squeeze, Pressure points, doula tricks

However, we also go further, and cover:

Hormones of labour
Pain coping practices
Emotional labour support – communication and creating connection
Pain medication – tips for partners, making the choice
Coping with anxiety and fear
Dealing with the unexpected
Building a positive dynamic with your care team
Culture of birth – dealing with judgement, opinions, and expectations
Cesarean birth – enhancing the OR birth experience
Postpartum – partner support
Inclusion and roles of the birth partners
Community resources.

Class 4

First 2 hours after birth
Newborn
Placenta
First Feeds
First 24 Hours with your Newborn
Caesarean Birth
Postpartum Tips

Class 5

Informed Consent
How to communicate with your medical team
Using BRAIN
Number 1 Dancing Star Birth Rule
Pain Management
Non-Medical Comfort Measures
Medications: Nitrous oxide, Morphine, Fentanyl and Epidural
Birth Plans

Class 6

Comforting your Newborn
Diapering
Babywearing
Bathing your baby
Preparing for your Newborn what you need
Feeding your Baby
Soothing your baby
Breastfeeding basics
How to Breastfeed your baby
How to know if your newborn is getting enough?
First 6 weeks with your newborn
Community Support

What precautions is Dancing Star Birth taking with Covid?

From the beginning, Dancing Star Birth has been driven by the interests and involvement of our incredible and engaged community members. We are growing and changing as the government makes decisions around the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, we are hosting our prenatal classes online and in person. We have had positive reviews. Our clients have enjoyed our classes and we have limited the possible transfer of covid between families. If you have any questions please reach out.

What if I have my baby early or can't attend classes because of a medical reason.

Should you need to cancel for medical reasons anytime prior to the start of class, you can request to switch your class to a one on one online session. If you have given birth before the start of the class, a refund will be given minus a $100 non-refundable deposit. Please give us as much notice as possible so we can fill the spot. For all other cancellation reasons, up to 3 weeks before the class start date, a 50% refund will be issued. No refunds are available 3 weeks before the class starts and for the duration of the class.

Our classes fill quickly. If your preferred class is full, please email info@dancingstarbirth.ca or call us at 604.254.1100 to see about waitlists, private prenatal classes or other options.