Best Online Childbirth & New Parent Class Options During Social Distancing
Prenatal Classes, also called childbirth or labor prep classes, are often strongly recommended by OB/GYNS, midwives, doulas, and/or delivery nurses. Many classes are offered in-person through a hospital, birth center, or women’s health center. However, if you have a busy schedule or maybe your classes have been rescheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak-have no fear, there are plenty of online options available!
There are pros and cons to taking online childbirth and infant courses. You won’t get the hands-on experience you might get during in-person classes such as massage techniques for labor pains. On the other hand, there are now so many different learning opportunities at your fingertips that you may not have in your neighborhood. Many online options offer access to the material and digital resources to refer to beyond the course date. Some of them are self-paced and some are scheduled. Either way online classes are done in the comfort of your home.
Boston NAPS is a center owned by a registered nurse and a nurse practitioner. Whether you live near or far you can take ‘Take Control of your Labor Experience’, ‘Pumping and Returning to Work’, and ‘Surviving the First 12 weeks with a Newborn’ for $99/class. Boston NAPS also offers live webinars and virtual consultations with a lactation counselor or a nurse.
Prenatal/postpartum classes and support groups that offers everything from childbirth education classes to womb songs to lactation+newborn care. While it seems that all their courses are highly inclusive, they offer specific courses taught in Spanish, courses geared taught by and geared towards Black Families, and courses geared towards LGBTQIA+.
Their flagship Baby 101 Course is only $50 right now. Their Breastfeeding, Pumping, and Newborn Feeding courses are free for the time being. Other courses are approximately $20 and range in topics such as parent safety, newborn sleep, transitioning to solid foods, and feeding.
Bestseller Bundle: $85 for 3 courses
Individual classes: $30-35/ course with topics ranging from breastfeeding, sex during and after pregnancy, and infant care basics)
Free youtube videos here
Prepared Essentials Course : 3 month access $195
Prepared Plus Course: 7 month access $245
Handles topics such as understanding your anatomy, birthing positions, and postpartum topics. $367
Free video series that breaks up into 7 chapters. Goes over labor basics, stages of labor, pain management, medical procedures during labor and childbirth, decisions to make about your newborn, and pre-delivery checklist
BabyMed University is a platform for free courses. You can opt in to receive daily emails to get one lesson at a time or read all 10 sections as you please. Either way, its free
Customizable comprehensive birthing courses. Prices range from $50-355
In-depth hypnobirthing training. All videos and documents for 1 year. 30% off for a limited time.
Course made for couples, but a partner is not required. Prenatal, Birthing, and Pregnancy Classes. Different packages with special prices ranging from $35-150 (usually $40-200).
Hospital Based Online Options
Bringham and Women’s Parent and Childbirth Education:
Virtual classes conducted on Zoom. You can sign up online and pick dates/times. Prices range $45-80
Johns Hopkins Online Childbirth Education eClass
Hospital based online class that goes into details of hospital birth, including info on c-sections. $50
Virtual New Parent Classes
Beth Israel: hospital run virtual parent groups
Doula-Run New Parent Group: free online parent group facilitated by Jennifer McGlade , a certified birth and postpartum doula, who will help find evidence based answers and reassurance for the many questions and worries of new parents