This relaxed and interactive class offers a comprehensive understanding of labor and birth and the early postpartum period over four weekly class sessions. The first three sessions cover labor and birth, including signs of labor, stages and phases of labor, common interventions, as well as comfort measures and labor positions. The fourth session includes Bringing Home Baby which is essentially Newborn Care 101! Each class combines lecture slides, videos, hands-on demonstrations, and Q&A time to cover all the key topics for childbirth and parenting a newborn. Books will complement instruction and will be distributed during class. Meets one night/week for four weeks: July 3, 10, 17, 31 *Please note there will be no class on July 24. This class is "In-Person". If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or another acute, contagious illness, please stay at home and call or email  to reschedule your class. By entering a WakeMed facility, visitors are attesting that they are free of the symptoms of contagious illness. This class includes a tour of the WakeMed Raleigh Women's Pavilion and Birthplace. 

Cost: $150/couple. 

Labor & Birth topics:  

• Planning for your birth 
• Having a healthy pregnancy and pregnancy warning signs 

• Pre-labor signs, how to recognize labor, and when to go to the hospital 
• Stages and phases of labor and birth 
• Pain management: relaxation and breathing techniques and comfort measures 
• Positions for labor and birth 
• Medical tools for labor and birth 

• Pain medication options 
• Cesarean Birth 
• Recovery care after the birth of your baby 
• Postpartum adjustment: physical and emotional health and warning signs 

Brining Home Baby topics:  

• Normal newborn appearance 

• Screenings and procedures what to expect during the hospital stay 
• Feeding a newborn: feeding cues and tips for breast and bottle feeding, burping, etc. 
• Demonstrations of bathing, diapering, and swaddling