Even those of us who are due to give birth in 6 weeks admit to being somewhat clueless about what the childbirth experience is all about. So what do we do? We do what all educated and enlighted people do; we shell out the cash and sign up for a class.

There are tons of options available in the Bay Area. We chose a class from Moms on the Move, in Marin County. We found the class to be an excellent balance between holistic and traditional. The classes are all taught by Susan Lawler, an R.N. and Childbirth educator for 20-odd years. During the class she compared childbirth to vomiting (an image we really liked), and she used enough hippyesqe euphamisms like “mentally go to the Living Room and not the Emergency Room” to keep our born-on-a-commune husband happy. Plus, we love anyone who tells us that during labor we are going to sound like mating whales. We’d rather project the image of a sonic-booming whale than a screaming banshee any day.

Image from the Oregon City Evangelical Church site.

Join SFist Amanda as she continues her series on the family way and being in it, with her report on Bay Area childbirth classes.