Pregnancy & Baby Preparation Classes I Recommend

Getting prepared for your new baby is REALLY important. Knowing what to expect will save you from lots of pitfalls.

Hi, I’m Hilary — The Pregnancy Nurse 👩‍⚕️. I have been a nurse since 1997 and I have 20 years of OB nursing experience, I am also the curly head behind Pulling Curls and The Online Prenatal Class for Couples. 🩺​ Today, I am sharing how to best prepare for your new baby & new life!

Classes to Take Before You Have a Baby

There are a few classes, or things you should do before you have a baby:

Best Online Prenatal Class

The Online Prenatal Class for Couples will help you BE and FEEL prepared for birth in just 3 hours.

Yes, it can take longer, but it is #1 in experience, and people just RAVE about the class — check out all the reviews!

Be sure to check out my post that shares the alternatives to Tinyhood.

Hospital Prep

Now, if Covid taught us anything, we know that hospitals change frequently, so at least call your hospital. See what they recommend for getting prepared.  That could be an in-person tour, an online tour or just a website with helpful tips for their policies.  

I have a whole post about the alternatives to taking a hospital birth class.

Best Online Breastfeeding Classes

For a long time, I thought the best class was done in person. But, the more I see if how people are teaching it — the more I think online is the way to go.

• Easier to get a partner involved
• Easier to re-play things you need to review
• You can go “Back” to the class even after baby is born (because most give you plenty of access)

Breastfeeding really isn’t my strong point which is why I leave it to the professionals:

There are two I recommend the most (learn about all the ones I vetted here as there are quite a olt of great options):

The Breastfeeding Mama is on the camera more and a bit more about relationships & troubleshooting.

Milkology is smooth and polished, great stock video to help you know more of what to expect, but no face-to-face.

BOTH classes are great! Maybe see which “clicks” with you more as you look at their sites.

Other Classes Before Baby:

While if you’re strapped for time, or cash — these could be skipped. A lot of my readers have found these to be super helpful:

Newborn Care & CPR Class

I adore Valerie from New Parents Academy.  She’s been on the podcast a couple of times and she has a free expecting parents workshop — and a SUPER helpful class on newborns called Expecting 101.  That has info on infant CPR, newborn care and what to watch for.  More extended than I provide in my own class.

Natural Pain Management Class:

I feel like a lot of “natural” classes provide a lot of guilt and less resources to actually do it.  Hypnobabies is the one I’ve seen the most success to both just get to the epidural or go natural the whole way (or, frankly deal with teenagers — because parenting is a LONG haul).  You can save 15% with code hypno1528.

But, obviously — most important is taking a prenatal class. I brush into each of these areas and give highlights in my own class.

• Partners love it.
• You will love my teaching style. You’ll be engaged and the time will fly by and all the sudden you’ll be prepared!
• You’ll be able to work with your hospital team to get the information you need to make the right choices.
• Goes from 3rd trimester testing all the way through your first few months home — preparing you for #allthethings along the way.

I offer a free beginning class — to see if we’re a good fit for each other: