How will the childbirth go? What can you expect in hospital and how to look after a newborn baby? These questions are often asked by mothers-to-be. Childbirth schools are trying to answer them, and, thanks to suitable training, they can reduce childbirth-related stress.
There are about 400 childbirth schools in Poland. The first school was established by Prof. Włodzimierz Fijałkowski in Łódź in 1957.
Fathers-to-be also attend these schools with the future mums. They get to know about childbirth preparations and the rules of newborn care.
Theory won’t replace experience
What do classes in a childbirth school look like? As it happens, they are unpredictable – instructors suggest, for example, belly dancing or yoga. However, basic information is also passed on by midwives and physical therapists.
“Of course, you can buy a book or read 300 pages on this subject, but it’s not the same. We offer practical training and proven knowledge. We teach, for example, how to behave when labour pains appear, when to go to hospital, and how to actively influence labour" says the e-zdrowie portal by Anna Osińska, who established the first childbirth school in Poland.
She adds that in such schools pregnant women prepare for their last weeks of pregnancy, and get to know relaxation techniques and the rules of childbirth-related hygiene. There are also practical lessons concerning newborn care. Special educational dolls are used during the sessions.
Considering the need of the child’s development
Medical-rescue lessons are also organised in schools. The participants learn how to provide first aid to newborn babies.
“Professional schools provide lessons with a pedagogue or a psychologist. There are sometimes sessions with a Psychomotor Development Therapist. They concern such important issues as the role of psychophysical balance and harmony in the first days of the life of the baby, how to pursue it through proper contact with the newborn baby and how to build its sense of security, which facilitates proper development" as Ms Osińska has highlighted.
Childbirth schools also provide information connected with premature infants, which number about 28 thousand a year in Poland. These are babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy. They are exposed to a greater risk of diseases and health complications.
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