Birthing Classes in Portland Area

Go to Zenana Spa and Wellness, on Clinton and 23. It is a spa for mom's and mom to be's. It also has a great resource board upstairs with advertisments for all kinds of classes.
I would also suggest hiring a Doula for your birth for natural and/or c-section.
Also check out Alma Birthing Center, they have yoga.

Good luck,
S.

Andaluz Waterbirth Center offers childbirth that is more natural but will go over hospital protocols. They are $65 (I think) for an 8 week course. Here is their phone # 503- ###-###-####. Here is their website: http://www.waterbirth.net/ They also will do homebirth for breech or twins if you are really wanting a more natural birth. I had my twins through them.

Good Luck

S.

Hi S.!

Congratulations on your twins! I wanted to second Hypnobirthing. It's an amazing class, and I swear by it. It will be good whether you have a vaginal birth or a c-section. Our teacher, Kristen Olberz, is just wonderful and will you give you information and support on all the different circumstances. Along with this comes a second for Zenana Spa & Wellness Center. We took the breastfeeding class and the baby care class there and were thrilled with both. Kristen teaches Hypnobirthing there as well as in her home. http://www.zenana-spa.com/ You can also reach Kristen directly at ____@____.com. Please feel free to write me to ask any questions about either. Again, I can't recommend Hypnobirthing highly enough. :)

Warmly,
L.

Congrats on twins! We took our child birth classes at St. V's and thought they were very thorough. They covered everything from natural to emergency-c, including scheduled c.

The relaxation exercises were helpful and they couldn't stress enough about developing a birthplan ahead of time and letting your doctor or midwife know what is was ahead of time.

I can see where a midwife experience might be beneficial, because with both of my deliveries, I got a different doctor and not my OB who I had developed a rapport with. The first time around, I thought the OB a bit short with her responses and didn't feel much support from her. Granted, she was going from room to room to room that night, the child birth wings were packed.

Good luck to you,
D.

Congratulations on the twins! I have twin boys who are 2 and a four year old boy ...

I wanted to say that before my twins were born I took a hypnobirthing class that was really cool. It doesn't cover c-sections or epidurals,but it taught me a skill that I still use today to cope with stress or pain. I ended up needing an emergency c-section but I still used the hypnobirthing techniques because the spinal made me feel terrible and the technique really helped me. It also helped me relax during the first few busy stressful months of having twins. With my first son I took the hospital course which was pretty good (kaiser) and it was good info but I ended up having an emergency c-section before they covered the c-section part of the class (he was a month early). Afterward I watched a video of a c-section and I'm so glad that I didn't see it first - it was better for me not to know exactly what they were doing (I'm a little queasy). In both of my pregnancies my babies were breech until the last minute. My twins were big and I was told that they would not have room to turn after 30 wks but mine both turned at 38 so don't let that deter you. Many moms of twins have had natural deliveries, so it can be done! Oh and by the way,even though I had c-sections the delivery was still a wonderful and touching experience for me. I would have liked to have gone the other route, but it was still amazing. enjoy those girls!

S.,

I am due to deliver any day and will be doing so at Andaluz as well. It has been an amazing experience. This our third child and I am an information junky :-) My husband and I have taken the classes at St. V's and Kaiser with our first two babies. I have to say that I don't think they prepared me as well for my natural childbirths (no drugs) as the Bradley class we took. The Bradley class was in depth, extensive and covered EVERYTHING!! I felt really informed. With two little ones this time I have not had a chance to take the Andaluz class, but my midwife is amazing and spends the time to educate and inform.

Best of luck on the twins, such an exciting time!!

S.

Here is the directory of teachers who do the Bradley Method here in Oregon.
http://www.bradleybirth.com/GetTeachers.aspx?statemap=OR

Hey S.,
First off, Congrats! How exciting! We took our birth class through St. V's, and it did cover what you are looking for; a little bit of everything. I too ended up having an emergency c-section so it had helped that we'd covered all of that in our class. I don't know if I would rate the class as 'excellent' but it was good but the best part of it all was the women I met in the class (and their spouses) who have become my primary support system. I still see a few of them regularly (one I talk to almost every day) and we get our kids together as often as we can too. So for me, the personal relationships of women in the same stage of life as me were the best benefit of birthing classes. Good luck with it all!

I took classes at Prov. Portland and was happy with the experience.

I had my twins last month through Andaluz Waterbirth Center and I must say it was an incredible experience! We did a homebirth and made it to 39 weeks and 1 day. The big difference I noticed between using a regular OB and a midwife is the attitude of your twin will mostly come early and a focus on all the complications that may arise with the care of an OB vs your twins will come full term and care is preventative. I went to my appointments with the midwives always focused on a due date of 39 to 41 weeks, I was always told how wonderful I looked and how great I was doing. Great care was taken to focus on issues I had with a previous pregnancy and making sure the twin pregnancy did face the same problems. The positive thinking and extreme care helped me make it full term with my twins (in fact we made it one day longer than I did with my daughter a few years before!)

Natural and organic remedies are offered as well as mainstream options. And the best part was the time given to me as a client. Every appointment lasted about an hour giving me ample time to come up with questions and for any concerns to be addressed. It also gave me time to bond and connect with my midwives. They are with you throughout the pregnancy, through the entire labor process and a few hours later. They then come to your home the next day, 3 days postpartum and continue care for 6 weeks after the babies are born.

And even though you are no longer a client after the 6 weeks, you have become part of a wonderful family. I have had support from families that live and think like me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from my first pregnancy right through today and for years to come!

I would be happy to share my birth story and experience if you are interested. I would highly recommend you check out Andaluz, the consultation is free and they will spend all the time you need with them and even do a prenatal check up so you can see how everything is done with a midwive in comparison to an OB. They will show you videos and give a tour of the facilities as well.

They have had many twin births and all of them have been between 39 weeks and 41 weeks.

www.waterbirth.net

One more thing, a great book to read is called Having Twins and More by Elizabeth Noble. It covers everything you need to know about twins and covers all types of birth from all natural homebirths to c-sections. It's an amazing resource I turn to frequently.