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Prenatal education in the pub!

Last week there was another interesting report in our major newspaper. The Health and Science supplement carried a full page story about prenatal classes being held in a pub in Sydney. Begun by two enterprising doulas, they offer a group get together in a room in a hotel, where they can talk about issues surrounding the pregnancy while they have dinner.

They decided on this format because they wanted to find a location that would appeal to the men in particular and where everyone would feel comfortable. Given that few working couples these days seem to cook during the week, and eating out is relatively cheap in Sydney, this novel approach was almost bound to succeed.

It is an idea that childbirth educators should take on board. Traditional meeting places don’t always feel as comfortable as they could and some lateral thinking might prove more popular, especially with expectant parents who are not used to hospital settings, for example.

The doulas in this article were careful to state that they were not offering prenatal classes. They would not be attempting to involve parents in the many and varied activities usually incorporated into a regular prenatal program, in such a setting as a pub. My guess is that they are concentrating on the social aspects of parent education and giving the parents a chance to talk through their concerns with their peers in a semi-structured way. This is an important aspect of classes and one that is often overlooked.

Of course, the other noteworthy point is that this novel approach is set in the affluent area of Sydney where parents are quite able to pay $35.00 each for a night out, including a meal. Not all parents would be able to afford nights such as these, but it might work well for a Saturday or Sunday session when more could be covered, making further sessions less necessary.

Good on these facilitators for coming up with this idea - I hope that it continues to work well and that others will think about similar ideas for all or part of their own parents education program.

Posted by andrea at December 06, 2004 06:55 AM