Childbirth classes
Hello!
I am preparing to welcome my first baby in late August and am looking for a good birthing class. I am a patient at Millie and am really loving it so I signed up for their birthing class but since I am planning to birth at Alta Bates I am wondering if I should also take their birthing class series or would it be too much?
I also looked at East Bay Birth Collective, Brilliant Births, and Loving Arms. Would you strongly recommend one of these birthing classes?
I’m also working with a wonderful doula named Lenore so will get a lot of good information and support through that but she did recommend I take a birthing class as well.
Thank you!
May 25, 2025
Parent Replies
It is across the bridge in SF but we totally loved this birthing class a couple years ago!
https://collectiveheartsbirth.com/childbirth-classes
We're midway through a 6-week series with Loving Arms and highly recommend! Our instructor is a great communicator and we have enjoyed working through the teaching material and exercises in weekly sessions. The subject matter has been very practical and thoughtfully presented, and both of us are learning a lot - about what to anticipate, pain management strategies/exercises, possible interventions and how to advocate. The course comes with plenty of resources and teaching material, but I have probably gotten the most out of mediated conversations with my partner during and after classes. It has also been lovely to meet other expectant couples - we really look forward to our sessions and to following everyone's progress!
My husband and I took the 6 week birth prep class at Loving Arms this spring and loved it. It was facilitated by an incredible doula named Anna Mahony who is a wonderful and warm teacher and cheerleader. The class provided a thorough overview of the labor process and anatomy/baby positioning, challenges and interventions that can arise, and comfort measures, with optional readings/videos after class and lots of discussion prompts and practice opportunities for each couple. I appreciated that the philosophy of the class is more about knowledge as empowerment and is not specific to one type of comfort measure/labor approach (e.g. hypnobirthing or Lamaze), and the information presented is evidence-based but also open to and supportive of a wide range of cultural practices around labor and delivery. We took the class in lieu of working with a birth doula and felt like we left with a solid foundation that really helped us ask questions and advocate for ourselves at the hospital (especially with an unexpected induction!). Finally, the longer class structure also helped us get to know the other couples in the class and now that we’ve all welcomed our babies we have a fairly active WhatsApp chat going. Our registration also included a free lactation/breastfeeding class (which thanks to that unexpected induction I had to miss). In short I highly recommend Loving Arms!
I highly recommend the class at Loving Arms! We took the full length class to prepare for the birth of my first and the refresher to prepare for #2. The teachers are fantastic and the class is super thorough. You also get connected to a group of other parents who are in the exact same stage as you which is an invaluable resource.
We took the class at Loving Arms and would echo the other recommendations. Most of our class was also planning to deliver at Alta Bates. They were very familiar with what to expect if you're planing to be there as well.
I took the 1-day class at Brilliant Births with my husband and thought it was really great! We didn't get our act together to take a longer class, but we thought it was really well-done, entertaining, and informative. The time flew! Wishing you a peaceful and happy birthing experience!