Bradley Birth Class: Pros and Cons

Before I dive into sharing the info I am learning in my Bradley Birth Class, I want to just do an overall post on what I think the Pros and Cons are of the class so far.

Pros:

• I feel way more informed about pregnancy, labor, birth and the beginning of parenting. 
• They emphasis the role of the "Coach" during this process. Usually this role is the husband, but if you dont have one then it can be someone else you trust and lean on. This was important to me because Mr. Pate understands me and helps me through things better than anyone on this earth. He is and will be my rock through this. 
• It focuses on healthy nutrition and exercising during pregnancy. I love this. 
• It makes me feel empowered and reminds me my body was created to do this. Sometimes I feel like we treat labor like something really odd that we have to get through, but women have done this since the beginning of humanity. 
• They teach us coping strategies/ relaxation techniques to prepare us for actual labor. 

Cons:

• There is really an "us" vs "them" mentality against modern medicine and doctors. It comes across pretty strong in the material, the teaching, and even in the comments from the others in the class. You could really come out totally against your doctor if you weren't careful. I love our doctor so far, and I think he loves what he does and has our best interest in mind. I get that a lot of what they are teaching us is against how most doctors handle labor today, but we dont have to paint them in such a bad light. 
• If you are planning to labor in a traditional hospital with a traditional OB, you kinda feel like an oddball. This is funny to me because Dr.Bradley, the guy who started this shindig, was a regular OB who delivered babies in a hospital. 
• We have to drive to TN... this is getting old and we get super tired! 

Thats my thoughts so far. We are only 5 weeks in I think, so we have a ways to go. That means I have a ton more to learn! Ha!