Pregnancy and Birthing Classes: an Education for Two!

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Pregnancy and birthing classes: What you and your partner can learn

Mercy Pregnancy and Birthing Classes

Having a baby and not sure where to start? Consider Mercy’s educational classes!

All of the classes are personalized, interactive, and taught by certified childbirth educators. Their comprehensive curriculum is designed so you can participate in an array of classes – free of charge – from the moment you realize you are pregnant through your last trimester and beyond.

Instructors will walk you through what to expect and give you tools to help develop your birth plan and provide you options to experience the best possible birth at Mercy.

In your first trimester, we encourage families to take our Great Expectations course.

In this course, you will hear from one of our providers, a physical therapist, a dietician, and a childbirth educator/doula. They will teach about all the choices and resources we have available, including our Volunteer Doula Program.

Empathy Belly mercy birthing classesIn your second trimester, you can enroll in Baby Basics and Postpartum Adjustments, or Multiple Blessings if you have more than one on the way!

You will learn how to hold, burp, diaper, swaddle, bathe, identify illness, and choose your baby’s doctor. As an expecting parent, you will be able to come and listen to a panel of new parents share their story from birth to hospital stay to transition home to today. You can ask them questions as our instructor talks about the physical, emotional, and intellectual changes that occur postpartum.

In your third trimester, we encourage you to sign up for our Prenatal Class Series.

birthing ball prenatal class mercyThis comprehensive five-week course provides an in-depth understanding of your labor and birthing experience. You will interact with families in our small classes to think through the evidence-based research that is taught. Our instructors will show you several relaxation techniques including breathing, massage and positions, while incorporating birthing balls.

With busy schedules, we also offer a single-session class, Fast Track, which helps moms and labor partners prepare for birth. *Please note that this course has a $30 materials fee.

Not your first baby and you just need a refresher? We can help you with that too!

Mercy offers a class to help parents review childbirth and provide ideas to help the growing family adjust.

We also offer a sibling course that helps children ages 3 to 6 years old prepare for a new baby brother or sister.

We encourage you to attend the Breast-feeding Essentials course. This helps families understand and learn the art of providing the best nutrition for your baby. You will learn the most up-to-date information needed for successful breast-feeding. After baby is born, we invite you to join our informal gathering of moms and their breast-feeding babies at Mommy and Me.

Our Boot Camp for New Dads course is a class in which “veterans” (new fathers and their new babies) orient “rookies” (fathers-to-be) on the realities of fatherhood. “Rookies” will be invited back as “veterans” after the birth of their baby.

Our Baby Finance 101 course helps parents learn the basics of creating financial security for their expanding family through budgeting, flexible spending accounts, life and disability insurance, and college funding options.

Courses that include a tour of the Labor and Delivery Floor and Mother/Baby Unit at the conclusion are: Great Expectations, Prenatal, Fast Track, Multiple Blessings, and Sibling.

Interested in signing up for one or more of our Mercy Childbirth Education courses?

Visit our web site at Mercy Childbirth Education Classes. Sign up through our easy-to-use online class scheduler, or contact the Mercy Nurse at (515) 243-2584. If you have any specific questions about our Childbirth Education classes, please contact Jenn Callahan, Childbirth Education and Doula Services Manager, at [email protected] or (515) 358-5060.


This is the 2nd in a 6-part series from Mercy Des Moines. Find the rest of the posts below:

The Importance of a Hospital with an Emergency OB Department

This sponsored post is brought to you in collaboration with Mercy Des Moines. Mercy is dedicated to providing a remarkable birthing experience for moms and their partners.

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