More information about Great Starts classes

In our book, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, we list a series of questions to ask when choosing a childbirth class. On this page, we share our answers to those questions and more.

Who sponsors the classes?

What is the instructor’s background, and experience with birth and birth education?

What is the philosophy and approach of the instructor?

Does she or he describe all the choices available?

Are comfort techniques for “natural childbirth” taught?

Do you offer Lamaze classes / Bradley classes / Birthing from Within / Hypnobirthing?

Does the class cover pain medication options?

I'm planning to use an epidural; why should I take a childbirth prep class?

Does the instructor cover topics other than childbirth?

How many hours is the class? How much of that time is spent practicing skills?

What is the cost?

What is the ratio of students to teachers?

Is there a reunion class?

Is the instructor available to students for questions outside of class?

Are gift certificates available?

What should I bring to class?

Where are classes held / where can I find a map to class?

The hospital I am birthing at offers classes. Should I take their classes, or yours?

I'm planning a home birth or birth center. Will your classes be appropriate for me?

What kinds of people take your classes?

Will I feel more worried, or more confident after taking your classes?

Who sponsors the classes?

Great Starts is a program of Parent Trust for Washington Children, a statewide non-profit agency. Great Starts has served the Seattle area for more than 50 years. Some of our classes are community-based classes, taught at a wide variety of facilities. Some of our classes are offered via a contract with a hospital (Stevens or Group Health).

All of our classes are consumer oriented, with a focus on providing the best in unbiased research-based information, and on informing the consumer about a wide range of options, encouraging them to seek out providers and birth places who will respect their values and priorities.

What is the instructor’s background?

We have 24 childbirth educators, 4 CPR instructors, and 5 lactation educators.

Our professional backgrounds vary. Many are nurses, several are physical therapists, others include doulas, mental health professionals, lactation consultants, and occupational therapists. All of us have received additional specialized training in childbirth education, lactation education, or CPR instruction.

We also require continuing education for all of our instructors, to keep up-to-date on current trends.

All of our birth instructors and breastfeeding instructors are female. We have one male CPR instructor.

We pride ourselves on the fact that most of our breastfeeding instructors are registered nurses, with extensive additional training and experience in breastfeeding support. 4 of our lactation educators are IBCLC certified lactation consultants, which is the gold standard in the field. Most other breastfeeding classes in Seattle are taught by educators without this degree of training and experience.

What is the instructor’s experience with birth and childbirth education?

Almost all of our instructors are parents themselves, and have personal experience with birth and parenting. Some instructors are also grandparents.

The majority of our instructors have worked with women in labor, either as a nurse or as a doula.

Some of our instructors are relatively new to the field, while others have taught childbirth preparation for 25 years or more.

What is the philosophy and approach of the instructor? Does she or he cover normal childbirth and variations from the normal?

During all Great Starts series, we first cover normal labor to give our students a solid grounding in what to expect during a normal labor, teach what they can do to enhance their labor process and help things go as smoothly as possible, and increase their confidence in their ability to birth their babies. In later classes, we cover the range of normal variations that may arise and what parents can do to handle these. We also cover possible complications, and medical procedures for treating these complications.

Does the instructor describe all the choices available? Does she emphasize a parents’ right and responsibility to be informed and make decisions? Does she cover risks, benefits, and alternatives to procedures and medications?

We do cover the wide range of choices available to families, with an emphasis on informed choice: encouraging parents to ask the questions they need to ask to help determine the best option for them, based on their unique health situation, values, and priorities for their birth experience.

As independent educators, we are able to teach you everything that research tells us is best practices for maternity care, rather than being limited (as most hospital-based classes are) to covering only the options available at one institution.

Every two years, we publish the results of a survey on practices and procedures at local birth places, including hospitals, birth centers, and home birth services. More information about the Great Starts Guide can be found here. We also bring a copy of it to each of our classes so that students are able to look up information about their planned birth place.

Although our instructors, like all individuals, have their own opinions about the birth process and maternity care, we endeavor to teach in an unbiased manner, providing research-based information to our students so that they can draw their own conclusions.

Are comfort techniques for “natural childbirth” taught?

During lectures and discussions, we offer several options for coping techniques including patterned breathing and attention focus (as seen in Lamaze), relaxation and visualization techniques (as seen in Bradley and Hypnobirthing), positions and movements for enhancing labor progress (many developed by our own Penny Simkin), massage, emotional support, and other techniques (including some from Birthing from Within).  We spend a large portion of class time practicing those skills so expectant parents get a sense of which will most likely be helpful to them during labor.

Most of the exercises, relaxation skills, and comfort techniques we cover are contained in our book Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn. For example, we work with the “Three R’s” coping method: Rhythm, Ritual, and Relaxation. If a woman feels safe and supported, she is able to Relax. As she relaxes, she may find her own coping style: her own Rhythm. Support people can work with her to help reinforce her natural coping styles, and develop spontaneous “Rituals” to help guide her as labor intensifies.

Do you teach a particular "method"? Do you offer Lamaze classes / Bradley classes / Birthing from Within / Hypnobirthing classes?

Our classes are based on our own proprietary curriculum, developed over more than 50 years of teaching, with the input of countless educators, doulas, nurses, midwives, doctors, and parents.

Many of our educators have taken additional trainings with other organizations, including those mentioned above, plus ALACE, CAPPA, APPPAH, Prenatal Parenting, Calm Birth, and Happiest Baby on the Block. The most helpful elements of each of those methods have been incorporated into our curriculum. We also remain current with scientific literature on evidence-based practices. All these ideas get incorporated into our classes.

We have a standardized curriculum across all of our offerings, but each instructor puts her own unique spin on it, using her own unique knowledge and perspectives to offer the best possible class experience.

The instructor also adapts depending on the needs of the students in her classes. Each student has his/her own learning style, own belief system, and own way of dealing with challenges, therefore, we work to give each person several possible tools that they can adapt to suit their needs, preferences, and their own unique labor. Then women develop their own unique coping methods during their labors, which roll together the tools that they learned in class with other skills they have developed throughout their lives.

Great Starts is a leader in the field of childbirth education, and has trained a majority of the childbirth educators in Western Washington.

Does the class cover pain medication options?

In one of the later classes in the series, we cover pain medications, teaching about how to maximize the benefits and minimize the potential downsides of pain medication, and guiding students in their decision making process, with an emphasis on informed choice.

Within any given group of students, we have some who are passionate about planning an unmedicated birth, some who are equally passionate about getting an epidural, and many students who are somewhere in the middle of the pain medication preference scale.

I'm planning an epidural; should I take a childbirth preparation class?

No matter what their plans and preferences are regarding pain medication, pain coping techniques are helpful to all birthing women, to assist them throughout their early labor, before pain medication may be available to them, and then as labor intensifies, they can continue to use coping techniques for as long as desired, until they decide that the time for medication has come.

We also cover several other topics in a class series which will be relevant to any expectant parent, regardless of their plans for medication.

Does the instructor cover topics other than childbirth?

In our Great Starts series, we cover healthy pregnancy, breastfeeding, and newborn care.

We also offer classes for sibling preparation, infant safety and CPR, preparing to adopt, and more. We offer refresher classes for those who have given birth before.

How many weeks does the class meet? How long is each session? How much time is spent in lecture and discussion? How much time is spent in practicing exercises, relaxation, comfort measures, and newborn care skills?

A Great Starts series is 14 hours long. Either seven weeknight sessions, or 4 weekend sessions. Of this time, about 60% is lecture, discussion, and videos. About 40% is hands-on practicing of skills.

Other classes range in length and format, but there is always an emphasis on hands-on learning as well as lecture.

What is the cost of a class?

Price varies, depending on class format. See online registration system for prices. Current prices are: $30 - 45 dollars for classes with only a single session, $110 for a two-week series, $160 for a four-Saturday or seven-weeknight series, $250 for our 8 week series taught by Penny Simkin. These prices are comparable to hospitals and independent providers in the community. We do accept medical coupons for the full series, and scholarships are available for all classes.

What is the ratio of students to teachers?

It ranges from class to class. The minimum number for a childbirth series is 5 pairs (mom and support person). The maximum number is 13 pairs. A typical Saturday class is 10 – 12 pairs, a typical weeknight class is 8-10 pairs. (Note, Penny Simkin's birth series is 16-17 pairs.)

Is there a reunion class after all the babies are born?

Yes, for our childbirth series classes. No for the Labor & Birth only classes.

Is the instructor available to students by phone or by email for questions outside of class, and after the course?

We let our instructors make the choice themselves about how available they are to students outside of class. Some have so many additional commitments that they are not available outside of class time. But most give out their email addresses and home phone numbers to their students.

Are gift certificates available?

Yes, we offer gift certificates which can applied to any of our classes, or to parent consulting, or breastfeeding home visits. Details.

What should I bring to class?

If you are attending a childbirth preparation class, we will be doing some exercises on the floor, so you will be more comfortable if you bring two pillows, and a mat or blanket to put on the floor.

For all classes, you may want to bring a water bottle, and notetaking materials.

Where are classes held? Where can I find a map to class?

Childbirth and parenting preparation series are offered in Seattle (Eastlake, Capital Hill, and Northgate neighborhoods), Edmonds, Redmond, Burien, and Bainbridge Island. Locations are listed in the online registration system. Maps and directions to locations can be found here.  CPR and Babysafe classes are all held at Childrens administrative building at 70th and Sand Pt Way.

The hospital I'm birthing at also offers childbirth classes. Should I take their classes or yours?

I'm planning a home birth or a birth center birth. Will your classes be appropriate for me?

Our classes will cover the information that you need, no matter where you are birthing. For example, when discussing the stages in labor, we don't just talk about "when do you go to the hospital". We also cover "when would you call the midwife to come to your home." When discussing medical procedures and policies, we can tell you how those might differ from place to place. For example, the policy on whether or not you will be allowed to eat solid food during labor varies between birth places. We also will make available to you a copy of our survey of birthplaces which will allow you to look up many of the details about different birthplaces yourself.

An advantage to our classes is that they are consumer-based, and focused on giving you the information about all of your options, so you can make the choices that best align with your needs and values. At some hospital classes (not all!!), the instructors are asked to teach only about the options that are preferred at that birth place, and discourage the clients from requesting other options.

In our classes, we serve parents who are birthing at Community Birth & Family Center, Evergreen, Group Health, Highline, at home, Northwest, Overlake, Puget Sound Birth Center, Seattle Birth Center, Seattle Home Maternity Services, Stevens, Swedish, UWMC, Valley, and more.

What kinds of people take your classes?

We serve a wide range of families. As a non-profit organization, it is important to us to welcome all people as they begin their lives as parents.

Age of students: The expectant moms we served last year ranged from 14 to 48 years old, with the average being 29 years old. The age range of our clients fairly closely reflects the age range of women giving birth in King County, although teen moms are slightly under-represented.

Economics: We did not collect economic data last year, but we do know that 15% of our clients are low income and use medical coupons to cover the cost of the class. Our students have a wide range of educational backgrounds and work experience. A recent class included: 2 teachers, 2 construction workers, 2 students, a paralegal, a real estate agent, molecular biologist, attorney, insurance agent, homemaker, mail carrier, retail clerk, mechanic, physician, and administrative assistant.

Partners: Most of our course fees cover an expectant mother and the support person of her choice. We have no restrictions on the partner a student brings to class. We welcome birthing partners who are relatives, friends, same-sex partners, opposite-sex partners, as well as single parents. In a typical class of 10 couples, we might see that 8 women are accompanied by a male partner, and two by a female partner or other supportive person.

Language: In every class, we have students for whom English is not their first language. However, it is helpful if they do have strong skills in English. We welcome sign language interpreters in our classes.

Accessibility: All our class locations are wheelchair accessible except Group Health Burien (the classroom is down stairs).

Will I feel more worried, or more confident after taking your classes?

When we surveyed our students before and after taking our classes, here's what they report.

For more information on specific class content, please see class descriptions. Classes are offered in Great Starts supports quality instructor preparation by offering instructor training. If you are interested in becoming a childbirth educator, please see the Instructor Education page for more information.

Information about all of our classes can be found here.

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