Class #2

Tonight was the second of 6 classes for the maternal fitness class (I think it is titled 'Birth Matters' but I'm still not sure). We started with introductions again as a husband who wasn't in attendance last week joined his wife (and all of us). We didn't go into doctors or how far along people were this time. We had to say an attribute we'd like our children to inherit from our spouse and an attribute we would not want to pass on from ourselves. I said that I wished the child would have DH's artistic nature and to not inherit my anal retentiveness (or my genetic deficiency). DH said that he wished the child would have my desire for knowledge and learning and not be as obnoxious as he is.

We then got into the fitness part. The guys participated in most of the exercises this time instead of just ensuring that we ladies were holding the correct posture. Plus we had some great belly dancing music to exercise to. We started with belly breathing and then pelvic tilts on all fours, squatting and standing. We then did hip circles standing and on all fours. The ladies had to do elevators and contrating while the men held us in the correct position but then when we did the 100 contractions (between the 4th & 5th floors this time) they had to join us in the last 30.We then got into kegels (to strengthen, stretch and relax the muscle). We did holds and then elevators (pelvic lifts). The guys probably had a time of it because some of the visualizations (i.e. "relax the muscle by opening like a flower") were more directed to a feminine audience - still, it is important for their prostate so they did the exercise. We then learned to go from a seated to standing position (go from all fours, bring one foot forward to arms, hands above knee, push forward into standing). Finally we did some squatting using our spouse to assist us to get down to our cushions.This was preparation for the first video on ladies in Brasil who give birth squatting. It showed many natural births in this manner, some with a birthing bar but most with no assistance. I was amazed at the calm nature of the mothers. I also saw my first ever placenta delivery (and my second a few minutes later).

We then took a break while three of my classmates had splints fitted for post-pregnancy (I assume we'll learn more about splinting and how to use it to strengthen your transverse post-delivery). We then watched our second and final video of the evening on home births and the role of midwives.There were lots of questions ranging from birth plans (we received an idea of the detail that can go into one) to why many women were au naturel in the videos (basically you should wear what you're comfortable wearing and some women will wear a sarong instead of a hospital gown). The class will be going on a tour of the maternity ward on Saturday, Dec 8th but we'll be in NY so we'll miss it (no problem since we don't need to worry about that for a while!).It was less uncomfortable than last week but it still was a lot of information that we don't know about yet (like how to get through the "ring of fire" - we had to be told what that was...). It was definitely fascinating and I want to read about some of what was discussed - particularly information about hydrotherapy and also the role of doulas and midwives.