The Big Question: Why Should I Take a Great Starts Class?

We help you connect to information.
In the Information Age, you have many sources of information, including books, TV shows, websites of varying quality, your care providers, friends and family. Sometimes it’s hard to know which information to believe, hard to understand what are common aspects of pregnancy versus incredibly rare complications, and hard to know what options are available in your local area.

Our knowledgeable instructors help you sort through, filter, and fact-check all this information, providing you with factual research-based information, guiding you in understanding what issues are likely to arise for you and how to manage them, and informing you about current local practices.

In our classes, we use a variety of interactive teaching techniques and materials to help you better understand the information, practice skills and ask questions as they arise, integrate the skills you learn into your lives, and apply knowledge to your unique situation.

Our students say: "There is so much information out there it can be overwhelming - this class really pays attention to the most important concepts, and especially addresses participant's specific concerns."

"You could do the research on your own, but it was very helpful to be around expectant couples and an instructor who was wise and enthusiastic. It helps to interact with others. It raises questions you might not think about."

We help you connect to other parents.
Our classes offer opportunities to begin connecting with other parents, sharing experiences, supporting each other, and learning from each other.

Our students say: "I also really enjoyed sharing the experience with the other pregnant couples, the fear, the excitement, and then having the reunion with all those adorable babies after we'd come out the other side... as tired, blissful parents."

“In class, our instructor encouraged us to interact over breaks to start building relationships, then gave a us a class roster to help us keep in touch. At the reunion, we agreed to start meeting for walks each week, and it’s been great to have this on-going connection to other new parents.”

We help you connect to your baby.
We teach you to care for your newborn’s basic needs: how to breastfeed, how to manage newborn sleep challenges, how to diaper and bathe a baby, how to calm crying, and when to call the doctor. We also discuss ways to understand baby’s cues, respond to and interact with baby, and emotionally bond with your child.

Our students say: "I was very nervous about giving birth but after taking the class I feel a lot more confident and know that I will be able to handle it."

“Our instructor helped us to realize that we already know coping techniques for challenging times, and that we can use those during labor. She also taught us great tools designed for coping with labor pain.”

We help you connect to your support network.
We discuss the many different ways family and friends can nurture and support parents through the birth process and the early weeks with baby. We also help you connect with local resources. "[Our instructor] is incredibly well-informed... she provided plentiful resources for local support, tips on what handy "goodies" we should have on hand after the birth, and book recommendations to help us with questions that arise in the future."

“Our instructor talked about the importance of calling when things start to get hard, rather than waiting till the problem gets worse: she said whether it’s for breastfeeding challenges, health issues, or emotional stresses of early parenting, to call early. And she gave us lots of good resources for who to call.”

We help you connect to your own strengths.
We strive to help you find your inner strengths, and to empower you to find out about your options and advocate for the ones that meet your needs.
Great Starts childbirth classes increase expectant mothers’ confidence about giving birth, and increase their partners’ confidence about supporting women during labor and birth. chart chart chart Our students say: "I liked learning about baby's capabilities, how to care for their physical needs, and their social/emotional development."

“It helped a lot to learn that baby shows other cues long before crying and that meeting their needs then can help ward off crying bouts, then to be given concrete skills for calming crying when it happens.”

 

Great Starts childbirth classes increase expectant mothers' confidence about giving birth, and increase their partners' confidence about supporting women during labor and birth.

 

Great Starts classes help expectant parents increase their knowledge of parental roles and responsibilities, child development and meeting baby's needs, ways to handle challenging situations, and ways to build secure, nurturing relationships. In the graph below, the lighter colored bars show the growth in knowledge for expectant mothers. The darker colored bars show the growth in knowledge for expectant fathers and other support people.