...take a birth class, people!!

Okay, I'm not one to nag, but isn't it a general rule that none of us will ever know everything and we should always be working on self-improvement?

Well, wake up, pregnant people! There's a better way to do the pregnancy and labor/birth thing. Obviously, I'm partial to the Bradley Method classes because I teach them, but I really just want mothers-to-be (and dads-to-be) to educate themselves. As we grow as parents, we learn that there are choices and we make decisions to choose the best life for our child. But how many times have we bellyached and groaned about how we wished we had known more when our children were young or even when they were still a tiny peanut, safe inside of mom?


There are serious choices to make, but the biggest things I hear are cop-outs from those who simply don't know what or who to ask about... well, anything! The excuses? Well, they go something like this:

• "I think I've done pretty well on my own until now." So... you already know everything? That's cool... that's cool. I'm sure there is no way this could backfire later.
• "I'll know what my preferences are after I've actually had a baby." Good luck, kid. You're parents are using you as the control group for their next one.
• "How hard could it be? You just push out a baby, right?" Bish whet?
• "I'm just so scared. Anything could happen and I don't want to mess with anything." Okay. This is very legitimate. I know I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant, but the best way to prevent anything bad from happening is to learn why it happens and how you can prevent it. Books, if you're ambitious. Classes, if you're not a reader. Both if you want to be super informed.
• "I'll just see how it goes."  I'm sorry, this is just lazy. It's called ignorance and that may work out well (or not) for mom and dad, but it's not really about you two crazy kids anymore, is it?

I know you're unsure, nervous, anxious, scared, or even flat-out horrified, but for your child... don't you want to know what you can give them? Don't you want to know what can hurt them, so you can protect them? There are free classes, $30 classes, $100 classes, even $500 classes... just pick one and least you can say that you made the effort to make the best choices you could.

The bottom line is this: even if you didn't know or didn't mean to, when it's your child, it's your fault. The only way to minimize those future feelings of guilt is to do what you need to so you know you tried your best. That's all any parent can do, but it's what every child deserves.

If you don't care about trying your best for your child, all I can say is...

Can you say generational ignorance?