Prenatal care training

Prenatal care training is neither the "must buy IQ tax for pregnancy" spread online, nor is it a panacea promoted by the agency that "guarantees a smooth delivery without tears and zero stress in raising a baby". It is essentially a prenatal care training for pregnant women and accompanying family members in the late pregnancy, labor and early postpartum period. Based on the scientific response framework, all families who are 28 weeks pregnant or above can choose according to their needs. There is no need to blindly follow the trend and sign up for expensive courses, and there is no need to completely resist. The content that matches your physical condition and actual needs can help you avoid at least 80% of the pitfalls of pregnancy and childbirth.

A while ago, I accompanied my best friend who was 31 weeks pregnant to a community health service center for free public welfare training. As soon as I entered the door, I bumped into a pregnant mother with a high ponytail and told the head nurse of the obstetrics department that the online course she had bought for 299 said that if you master the Lamaze breathing method, you can avoid side surgery. As a result, the head nurse directly replied, "If your child has a narrow pelvis and the estimated weight is 8 pounds, no matter how hard you breathe, you will have to have side surgery. Don't believe those who guarantee you." The girl was stunned.

The prenatal care training available to everyone now is actually a mixed bag, ranging from short video collections with free shipping on 9.9, free public welfare courses in community hospitals, to VIP one-on-one training worth tens of thousands of dollars in private maternity hospitals. The core content is actually not much different - nothing more than precautions in late pregnancy, labor coping skills, and basic newborn care. The most expensive courses are additional services such as on-site guidance and simulated delivery rooms. If you have no special circumstances, there is really no need to blindly rush for expensive ones.

There has been a lot of quarrel in the circle about whether to learn this or not. Many people of the older generation think that it is just a waste of money. "I didn't learn anything about your brothers when I gave birth to them, so they are not all good." This is not unreasonable. In the past, there was no systematic prenatal training because conditions did not allow it. Those "don't carry heavy things, and take two more steps when you are about to give birth" are actually the simplest prenatal care experience. But the problem is that experience is only an example. I had a colleague before. When her mother gave birth to her, she weighed 8 pounds very quickly, so she was asked to climb stairs every day at 37 weeks of pregnancy. As a result, she had a narrow pelvis, and the baby weighed an estimated 7 pounds and 6 taels. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. After climbing for three days, she had premature rupture of membranes and an emergency cesarean section. She was blamed by her boss. Young pregnant mothers on the other side tend to take things too seriously. They feel that if they don’t learn everything, they are irresponsible for their children. They keep a thick book of notes and refer to the textbook for everything they eat. Instead, they make themselves anxious to the point of insomnia, which is completely unnecessary.

I worked as a volunteer in the city’s maternal and child prenatal training group for three months last year, and I have seen too many examples of people who learned the right content and saved big things. There was an expectant father who was usually too lazy to move a delivery box. He was very serious in class, learning how to rub the pregnant mother's waist to relieve the pain of contractions and how to hold a soft newborn. Later, when his wife gave birth, other family members in the delivery room would just stand by and shout "Come on". He could accurately adjust the position of force for his wife and burp the baby immediately after giving birth. The nurses praised him for being more reliable than many parents who had given birth to their second child. To be honest, compared to the amazing breathing techniques that everyone preaches, I think the most useful things in the training are the "little things" that no one specifically promotes: how to count fetal movements correctly, whether to lie down or walk to the hospital when the water breaks, how to massage the breasts after childbirth to avoid getting mastitis. You may search for these contents online for a long time and you will find conflicting opinions. However, the teachers in the offline get out of class are all nurses who have been working in clinical practice for more than ten years. The two words they give you are based on the experience gained from countless pitfalls.

There is currently no unified conclusion in the industry on the timing of training. One group advocates starting staged nursing training from the 12th week of pregnancy. Early intervention can avoid risks such as improper nutrition and strenuous exercise. The other group believes that learning too early will make you anxious. You can't remember many contents and worry too much. It's just right to start learning around 30 weeks of pregnancy, and you will give birth not long after learning. You will be impressed and won't think too much. Both opinions are reasonable. Among the pregnant mothers I have met, some started learning it when they were just pregnant and found it very stable throughout the pregnancy, while others just crammed it for two days when they were about to give birth and it was enough. The key point is that when you learn, don’t be overzealous and just adjust according to your own physical condition.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that everything will be fine as long as you learn. There was a pregnant mother who signed up for the most expensive one-to-one private training class and did midwifery exercises for an hour every day according to the class schedule. As a result, she suddenly developed redness at 36 weeks. When she went to the hospital for a checkup, she found that she had a low-lying placenta and was not suitable for standing for a long time. She did not tell the teacher about her situation when she signed up, and the teacher did not evaluate her in advance. She suffered a lot in vain and was bedridden for half a month before she stabilized herself.

In fact, to put it bluntly, prenatal care training is just a tool. Don’t treat it like a final exam to get full marks, and don’t turn a blind eye completely. If you have time, go to a community hospital near your home and listen to two free public welfare classes. It is much more effective than watching ten short videos on "natural birth secrets". After all, no matter how good the experience is, it must be suitable for you.