About the Convenience Childbirth Class

Our convenience childbirth class is an online course that offers a unique alternative to traditional childbirth classes. This class allows you to learn the same information as you would in any other but mainly from the comfort of your own home.

You will have 90 days to access this class from the time you sign up. During that time, you can review the coursework as often as you like. If you need more than 90 days to complete the course, contact the women's health center at (925) 941-7900 (option 3).

If you purchase the class and can't get it to run on your computer, you can switch to a prepared childbirth class at the women's health center. You can choose either the personal class (one day) or the low-tech class (four evening sessions). If you would like to change your enrollment call us at (925) 941-7900 (option 3).

Tips

There's a lot to learn as you prepare for childbirth. Take your time as you go through this course.

The more carefully you read, the more prepared you'll be for your baby's birth. We recommend reading through one or two sections at a time. The entire series takes only about three hours to complete.

Take notes and jot down any questions you'll have for your childbirth educator. There will be time to practice positions, breathing, and review many other aspects of labor at the face-to-face session.

The end of each section has a set of exercises and a test to check your knowledge. Your feedback is helpful to us, so please complete the survey at the end of the course.

Face-to-face class

After finishing the online portion of the course, you will attend the face-to-face class. This 3-hour class covers three different subjects:

Breathing and coping techniques

Medications, including epidurals

C-sections and other interventions

You may participate in all three sessions, stay only for the one that you are interested in, or sit through the same session three times in a row. Face-to-face classes take place at John Muir Health's women's health center in downtown Walnut Creek.

Computer requirements

Our courses run best on a PC with Windows 98 and Internet Explorer 5.5 (or Netscape 7). Online courses are compatible with Firefox and Apple Safari on Mac OS X 10.3 and may also require:

• Disabled pop-up blockers
• Pentium class computer
• 266 MHz processor (300+ MHz recommended)
• 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended)
• Any Windows Based Operating System
• SVGA monitor capable of 16-bit color and 800 x 600 screen resolution
• Sound card with speakers or headphones
• Macromedia Flash 6 Player or Shockwave Player. You can download both players for free.
• Minimum 56.6 Kbps Internet connection (High Speed cable, DSL-class, or broadband access recommended)

If you have questions about any computer problems, fill out our contact us form or call (925) 941-7900 (option 3).