Birth Preparation Course

Last Tuesday was the beginning of our Geburtsvorbereitung Kurs (Birth Preparation Course). Clint and I were both a little nervous about it just because of the German part and not knowing what to expect. Someone had told us that the men don't go to this course with the women and that concerned us since that was what we thought the whole point of the course was. Plus, I just really didn't want to go by myself. I wanted him to be a part of it and to be there with me as a little reassurance. We asked a couple of other people about it and they said that he should be able to go with me. So that relieved our fears... or so we thought.

On Tuesday, we got to the hospital where the classes take place and where we are going to have our baby and there was a group of several pregnant women so we knew we were in the right place. However, I think we (especially Clint) were a little nervous since there were no men there. Then a couple came in and Clint was relieved to see another man.

The midwife who teaches our course came to pick us up at the information desk/ main entrance of the hospital to take us to our class. When she saw Clint start to come with us she said that no men were allowed. This of course freaked me out and I told her I thought that he could come with me. She said there was another class that the men can participate and I asked which one it was. She told me it was on Monday nights and that I could come with her and we could try to work it out.

Clint continued to follow the group and the other man that was there basically immediately told his wife/parter that he would be back to pick her up and was gone. I guess he was relieved that he didn't have to be there. We got to another section of the hospital and I began talking with another midwife. She told me that it would be difficult to get in the other class because it seemed like it was already full. But she gave me the phone number of the course instructor and told me to call and check with her if there were any openings. This entire time I am trying not to cry... I was pretty emotional and upset about it and of course I'm sure the hormones didn't help. Clint could see how upset I was and I think that upset him even more.

Finally we decided it was best that I stay and go to this course and we would call the other woman the next day to see if I could get in the other class. But, basically if I gave up my spot in the course I was already registered for I may not be able to take any course because they fill up so quickly and I couldn't wait for a later course since it is so late in my pregnancy.

So, Clint reluctantly said he would go home and would come back to pick me up later. Thankfully I was able to calm my emotions enough to join the class and not cry. We took a tour of the delivery rooms and were able to ask questions. I could understand most of it, but as far as asking questions it all went a little too quickly for me to interject. However, I didn't really have any questions so that is ok. I just listened to what the midwife had to say and to the other questions from the women.

After the tour we went to another room and sat on mats and ended up talking/asking questions and filling out some paperwork for the rest of the class. Some of it was a little too fast for me to understand, especially when everyone was asking questions and talking all at once. But I think I understood the majority and was able to follow along. At the end the midwife asked if I understood everything and I told her that some of it was a little fast, but that I understood a lot. The other women were surprised to hear that I was not German so they began asking me questions about where I was from and what I was doing here. They all were very nice and were interested to hear about my background. They also let me know to stop them if I had a question or could not understand something. By the end of the course I was feeling a lot better and not so nervous.

I asked the midwife at the end if the other course with the men was the same course or a completely different course and she said it was the same. So I just told her that if I couldn't change I would just come back to this course next time. As I was walking out, I spoke with another woman in the course who was very nice and understanding that I wanted my husband to be there with me, especially with the language and cultural differences. It was comforting to know that others understood.

Later in the week I called the other midwife and she said that the course was full and there was nothing she could do to help me. Clint and I discussed it and decided it would be better for me to attend this course by myself than to not do one at all so I will just have to do this alone. However, the midwife said that we will have one class in which the men can come so at least he can come to that. Otherwise, I think it will be ok and won't be so bad. Hopefully I can get to know the other women better.