What parent education is

Is there a course for expectant parents in your community? Your doctor or your public health department will know. If there is, your physician will be glad to tell you whether or not he thinks it would be advisable for you and your husband to join it. Some of these are for mothers, some for fathers, and some for both together. You and your husband have final responsibility for making your own plans and decisions about rearing your children. But you want to be sure that your reasons for making these plans and decisions are as good as they can be.

The idea of education for pregnancy, childbirth and the care of babies may be new to you. But haven't you been "shopping" for information ever since your pregnancy began? You have questioned your doctor, his nurse. You have talked with relatives, neighbors and friends. You have read some of the materials prepared for expectant parents by magazine Writers, newspaper columnists, manufacturers of clothing, food, furniture and equipment. You have watched television commercials and listened to radio programs about prenatal care.

The difficulty is that, except for what we learn from doctors, nurses, and other professionally trained people, most of us have no way of knowing how reliable the information is that we get from these different sources. This is why courses and classes for expectant parents are becoming more and more popular in many parts of the country.

These programs are carried on by a number of different agencies and organizations. To be acceptable, they must have the approval of local medical authorities. Among the usual sponsors are State and local health departments, visiting nurse associations, the American Red Cross, hospitals, maternity centers, churches, public schools, family service associations. When there are fees for tuition, these are almost always small and are often waived. The leaders are usually public health or maternity nurses who have had some special preparation for working with groups.

Most of these courses or classes are conducted informally. When you register you are usually asked to fill out a card, giving a few facts about yourself and your family. It helps the teacher to know where you live, who your doctor is, whether this is your first child, and when you expect your baby.

Subjects studied

Classes for expectant parents cover a wide range of subjects. These include more or less the same topics discussed in this pamphlet. But group members have opportunities to suggest other topics for discussion or to ask questions they would like to have answered. The leader may build up the whole program on these interests or may list them for future reference and bring them up where they seem to fit best in the program. In some classes exercises are taught as part of the preparation for childbearing.

Methods of teaching

The teaching methods used are varied and interesting. In some groups, the meetings are based on group discussion carried on from session to session. Other classes follow different plans. On one evening, a group may enjoy a lecture followed by lively discussion. At the next meeting, members may look at a film, study slides, or put on a skit. Often there will be demonstrations and opportunities to practice certain skills, such as bathing a baby. Always, there will be time for additional questions and the exchange of ideas.

Some values

A good experience with a group like this has many advantages. Husbands and wives who may have been a little shy with each other about the pregnancy frequently learn to talk things over together more freely. The facts they learn about human growth and development help them to understand themselves better and to be more realistic in their expectations for their children. Both feel more comfortable about what they are learning because they are learning it together. A father who came late into one of these groups said, gratefully, to the teacher after a meeting, "These classes turned a light on for my wife. I felt that I was in a dark room. Now the light's beginning to come on for me, too."

In these informal discussions, people sometimes feel free, for the first time, to talk about their fears. The anxieties of pregnancy are so common that anything you are worrying about is probably bothering at least one other person in the room. It helps a lot to know that other parents have feelings and problems like yours. Indeed, it often happens that some fears disappear altogether after a good airing. This does not mean, of course, that people are encouraged to bring up their serious personal problems in these meetings. These they are advised to discuss with their doctors.

These courses have other values, too. Parents who become interested in them often go on to take advantage of other educational opportunities in their communities. A father may discover that he would like to try his hand at making baby furniture. The chances are that someone in the group will be able to tell him about evening courses in carpentry in the adult education program of the public schools. Someone else may know of a cabinetmaking project at the Y. A mother may learn about a new babysitting service, or hear of a sewing class that specializes in the making of maternity and baby clothes.

Just to come out and be with people is a value itself.

You will be fortunate if there is, within reasonable distance of your home, a group for expectant parents that meets your needs and interests. You and your husband are starting out, perhaps for the first time, with a brand new baby. Both of you have no doubt already said to yourselves many times, "I wish I knew—." The chief purpose of prenatal education, in all of its many forms, is to help mothers and fathers ask the right questions and look in the right places for the answers. The more you and your husband know about your needs and your baby's the more meaning your parenthood will have for you, and the more you will be able to do to give your child a good, firm start on the road to a healthy, happy adult life.

Marcus Siegel

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