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Pre Natal Classes

For our online group classes, we ask that participants keep their videos on during class.  Like an in-person class, this creates a sense of community and safety.   If you prefer not to be seen, we recommend a private session with one of our instructors

We suggest you take your prenatal classes between 20 weeks and 36 weeks. Be sure to register early in your pregnancy in order to ensure a place is reserved for you. Classes are offered in the following formats:
6 Weekday Evenings OR Full Weekend One Day Condensed
  • Your birth support team – The role of the Midwife, family Doctor, OB, Registered Nurse and Doula
  • Stages and Phases of labour
  • Comfort measures including relaxation and massage techniques
  • Breath awareness
  • All options for pain management
  • Making decisions and giving consent
  • Methods of induction
  • Interventions including IV’s, fetal heart monitors, instrumental deliveries, inductions, and cesarean sections
  • Post-birth procedures for babies
  • Post-birth recovery for women
  • Resources in Ottawa
  • Infant feeding
  • Your birth support team – The role of the Midwife, family Doctor, OB, Registered Nurse and Doula
  • Stages and Phases of labour
  • All options for pain management
  • Interventions including instrumental deliveries, inductions and cesarean sections
  • Infant feeding resources
Topics are presented in a variety of methods including videos, hands-on practice, small group discussion and relaxation exercises. Topics are presented in a lecture-like style to allow for the time required to cover the content in a shorter space of time.

Our one-day condensed classes are excellent for those who may not otherwise have time to take a prenatal class at all, or for those who work shift work. We cover the topics shown in the above table, which offers a comparison to our 6-week series and two-day weekend classes.  We focus on labour and birth, leaving you with reading resources for post birth.

Cost of classes is $175 (CAD) (per couple) for the two-day class and $155 (CAD per couple) for the one-day class and includes telephone and email contact with your instructor free parking and air-conditioned rooms. 
*a couple is defined as a pregnant person and one support person (which can be a spouse, partner, friend or family member)

What materials are provided for class?  In order to make the class as interactive and hands-on as possible, we will provide you with a series of links and information sheets five days before your class with your reminder email.  The internet has a wonderful amount of resources and we will link you to up-to-date resources on the net.  You do not need to print them off in advance.   We also make every effort to reduce paper use and keep our and your photocopying costs down.   

Refund Policy: When cancelling a prenatal class after it has been booked there is a $25 (CAD) administration fee. If the cancellation occurs less than 14 days before the class there is a 50% cancellation fee. If it is less than 7 days there is no refund.  Request for date changes within 7 days of class will reflect a $75 fee.  Please keep this in mind when booking classes and plan to be finished your session by 35 weeks.

People who took our online class during COVID-19 had this to say:

Given the continued need to physically distance, the size of our room rentals and the evolving state of our global pandemic, OCEA will continue to offer all classes online throughout 2022.
We dearly want to support the health of expectant families.

Erin was absolutely fantastic! She was engaging, explained topics enthusiastically, answered all questions and overall was an excellent instructor. My husband and I are very grateful for all info we learned throughout this 2 day course.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

We both LOVED Julia's approach to teaching. She provided us with so much useful information and supported all areas of pregnancy. It was nice that she explained the pro's and con's of each topic without making one seem better than another or making us feel like we made a bad choice going the route we've chosen.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

The virtual class provided by OCEA was very informative and a great way to prepare for labour as well as childbirth. Especially during a global pandemic/lockdown/stay-at-home order this was more than beneficial for mommy and daddy-to-be! We are extremely grateful for this opportunity and feel much more confident bringing our little bundle of joy into this world!

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

The OCEA prenatal course was amazing. We are first time parents and honestly didn't know what to expect or how to prepare for the arrival of our baby. This course and Brandie were excellent and have really helped us prepare with the most useful in depth information. It was more than we could have hoped for. .

Pre Natal – with Brandie Lekovic

Julia was phenomenal! Very kind, knowledgeable and a great educator!

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

The suggestions for community resources were fantastic. It definitely helps to have a starting point to know what to look for and what questions to ask.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

Julia was really informative and full of excitement, so it was indeed a wonderful series of class

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

How easy it was to use Zoom. That this was offered as an alternative rather than just cancelling outright. That we didn't have to get up earlier and travel anywhere :)

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

We were very impressed with the OCEA "Bringing Baby Home" course. It was well-paced and kept my attention, but also had enough time to ask questions and try some "hands-on" work such as straddling and baby-wearing. The instructor was fantastic and I left the class feeling much more confidant about what's to come. Perhaps most importantly, we gained the knowledge of where to go for help in the community and when to seek help.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

It was interactive and live so we could ask questions as it went on and get instant feedback.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

The virtual prenatal class my husband and I took through the OCEA was an excellent experience! Useful and insightful information was presented in a thoughtful and organised fashion and we were also given additional resources upon completion of the course. There was time to ask questions over the duration of the course and the instructor was incredibly knowledgeable and able to offer examples of the situations she was discussing. I would highly recommend this course to any first time parents.

Pre Natal – with Brandie Lekovic

I could not speak more highly of Brandie! She is an absolutely phenomenal instructor - knowledgeable, personable, well-spoken, organized - I could go on! She used props to help illustrate concepts, answered a wide variety of questions, provided resources, and engaged the group (not easy over Zoom). She also stayed online as long as needed after each session to answer any additional questions that arose. Taking this course alleviated my fears about childbirth and increased my confidence. I would highly recommend her to anyone!

Pre Natal – with Brandie Lekovic


 
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