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Child labor classes are not worth taking, at least in England they aren't. I went to what they called parent classes. These were supposed to help us get through the large amount of changes that were about to happen in our lives with a baby coming. I was really scared about having a child mostly because I knew it was going to be really painful. So we went to the first class, everyone introduced themselves and we were told to make a chart for everything we thought we would need to bring to the hospital. After everyone went through their charts I felt I had received no new information. Next, we were shown how to hold a baby which to me is part common sense and the other part is you should have held a baby at some point in your life unless you live in a hut alone. I grew up with 3 younger siblings so had held a baby. So yet again no new information.

I decided to go to the next class just to see if it was going to get into the labor part of things which is what I was worried about, how were you supposed to breath to make it less painful. This class they took us through the hospital which instead of putting my mind at ease made me feel worse. You see in England at the time there was a big scare about horrible diseases that people pick up from going into the hospital, they come out worse off then they were when they went in. So walking around I am noticing how old and dirty everything is looking, thinking that I am going to die after having my baby. There was garbage bags full of trash in the hallways and the delivery rooms looked nothing like on tv. These looked like they were built in the 1900s, with out of date equipment and mirrors on a wall where to me they shouldn't be (so you could see your baby coming out I guess). I was also told that they only had one birthing pool so if I wanted a water birth I would have to call and see if they had it and it was first come first serve. After going home and feeling very sick and wondering if I could have a home birth instead, I decided to go to the last class.

The last parenting class was by far the most boring. This class was just for women and was about breastfeeding. We each watched a video about how to position the babies head and insert the nipple. From the looks of the video the child would choke from the way the head way to be positioned. We were each given a plastic baby and told to position the child then the teacher came round to check to see if we were doing it right. Many of the women, like me, were feeling silly and uncomfortable. I did feel sorry for the woman trying to hold two babies, because she was having twins. That was the last class there was no breathing techniques or anything. They did give us a sheet with ways to hurry the labor, like walking up and down stairs, but other than that nothing. I went home very scared and wondering what I was going to do.

It turns out that once I went into labor I was at home feeling very scared, but once I got to the hospital I felt better. I breathed like they do on tv and they told me I was very calm. If anyone out there is worrying about how in the world they are going to have a baby don't, your body will do most of the work and tell you when the baby is coming. So I think the classes were a waste of time I didn't even make any friends out of it.

Learn more about this author, Tiffany Matteson.
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