Expecting a Baby and Want to Take a Class? Launch Your Browser and You're There

With the Web 2.0 generation growing up and starting families, it was just a matter of time before online childbirth and baby care classes became reality.

Beaumont Hospitals is adding three Web-based, independent study classes:"Childbirth Education,""Preparing for Breastfeeding" and "Babycare andSafety.""Childbirth Education" includes one three-hour skills class, which meets on Monday, April 20, from 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. at the National City Center, Community Education Classroom, 755 Big Beaver Road (between Livernois& Crooks) in Troy.

Call Beaumont's Physician Referral Service toll-free at 1-800-633-7377 to register.

The $30 fees for "Preparing for Breastfeeding" and "Babycare and Safety" include six months' access to http://www.seewhatyouread.com/ (accessible with a PIN); e-mail and voicemail access to a Beaumont childbirth educator; and a supplemental folder of reading materials. The Web site consists of information reviewed by medical experts, video clips and supplemental PDF files that can be printed and saved.

The $80 fee for "Childbirth Education" includes six months' access to the Web site (including a PIN); e-mail and voicemail access to a Beaumont childbirth educator; a one-session skills class that includes Beaumont-specific information and an opportunity to practice breathing techniques, relaxation, positioning and massage. Participants will also receive supplemental reading materials.

Participants in "Childbirth Education" are encouraged to attend a free class after their baby's birth,"Beyond Birth." This fun, interactive class lets new parents meet other families with babies, discuss their birth experience and learn about adjustment to parenthood.

Beaumont is one of the state's leading providers of birthing services, including prenatal and postnatal care at its private doctors' offices; state-of-the-art birthing centers and inpatient care in all private rooms at its Grosse Pointe, Royal Oak and Troy hospitals; dozens of community education classes on birthing (including Hypnobirthing®) and caring for a baby; lactation consultants; and an award-winning Parenting Program to help new parents adjust. In addition, the Beaumont hospitals in Royal Oak and Troy have neonatal intensive care units that specialize in treating high-risk, premature newborns. More than 10,000 babies were born at Beaumont Hospitals in 2008.

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