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Pre Natal Classes

In - Person classes will resume in September 2023 for weekend sessions. Virtual classes will continue for evening sessions and weekend morning 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 $200 (CAD) (per couple) for the two-day class and $175 (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?  To make the class as interactive and hands-on as possible, we will share 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 strive to reduce environmental impacts by offering all resources in e-formats.

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.  Requests for date changes within 7 days of class will reflect a $75 fee.  Please remember this when booking classes and plan to finish 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.

Brandie is an exceptional teacher, I really enjoyed her teaching style and found all the information to be super informative. She made me feel more confident in my body and the birthing process and took away some fear of labour. I also enjoyed listening to her experiences as a doula matched with the information of what was happening medically. Brandie is very approachable and I felt really comfortable asking questions and having a dicussion.

Pre Natal – with Brandie Lekovic

It was easy to share questions verbally or in writing, or that you had the opportunity to ask them more privately, before or after the class via text with Julia. It was a nice option that made me feel more at ease.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

Michelle is an excellent instructor. Her presentations and commentary were useful and very insightful for first time parents. I appreciated that she took the time to answer all questions that came up during class and handled difficult or more contentious topics with grace and nuance that respects that some solutions will have to be tailored to the baby, mother or family preferences. She also provided us with a wealth of resources that have been useful. My husband and myself both feel better-prepared for birth and the postpartum period thanks to this class.

Pre Natal – with Michelle Morra

What a wonderful human!! She was so nice and extremely informative :)

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

She was fantastic. I really appreciated her non judgmental approach. She provided information in a scientific manner, without inserting a personal bias.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

She was fantastic ! Made the class fun to attend !

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

Julia was an amazing educator and I would highly recommend her and this course to new parents. It was incredibly helpful.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

I enjoyed the fact that we were at home, it made my wife more comfortable to be able to use our own bathroom and have snacks on hand etc. It also allowed us to must ourselves during the discussion and make comments to each other privately when an issues or decision that we wanted to discuss came up.

Pre Natal – with Misty Pratt

Thank you so much! We learned a lot and feel much more prepared now for when baby arrives.

Bringing Baby Home – with Brandie Lekovic

Brandie was a wonderful instructor. She was organized and personable. The content was fresh and relevant. It exceeded our expectations!

Bringing Baby Home – with Brandie Lekovic

Lilly was great at fostering a community environment through the screen! She was always available for questions and encouraged group atmosphere in an unprecedented new learning environment!

Pre Natal – with Lilly Bianchi

The courses offered by the OCEA have been very helpful and informative. They allow you to feel more confident about the labour process, the hospital environment you will be entered into, and bringing baby home. I would recommend this to anyone having a baby.

Bringing Baby Home – with Brandie Lekovic


 
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