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CHILDBIRTH QUESTIONS
Get
ready
to
meet
Classes help
soon-to-be
parents
If you are expecting your first
baby, you’ll probably have lots
of questions about childbirth.
When should I come to the
hospital? How long will labor
last? What pain relief options
are there?
Thankfully, those ques-
tions (as well as many you
probably haven’t thought
of yet) can be answered
through childbirth education
classes. These sessions help
you and your labor coach—
usually your partner, a family
member or a good friend—
prepare together for the
arrival of your baby.
In the classes, you can
expect to learn the signs and
stages of labor, options for
managing pain, ways to stay
relaxed and in control during
labor, and much more.
Join us for a class.
Our
childbirth education classes
will help you feel more con-
fident about your upcoming
labor and delivery. To sign up
for classes, just call
793-9690
. Or go
online to
www.samaritan
healthcare.com
to view the
current class schedule.
To be a good parent is
to look out for your
child’s well-being. And
this is something you
can start to do even
before the two of you
meet.
✦
What follows
are a few of the most
important prepara-
tions to consider as
your delivery draws nearer—
things that can help give your
baby the best start possible in
life.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
If
you haven’t already settled on
a doctor for your baby, now
is the time to do so. Even
the healthiest babies need
frequent checkups, and the
first one will take place at the
hospital.
Remember, too, that your
doctor could potentially see
your child through well-
baby visits to first sniffles
to—sooner than you think—
adolescence. So you’ll want
to find a doctor you trust and
feel comfortable talking to.
Before your baby arrives,
you’ll also want to decide if
you’re going to breastfeed or
use formula.
Do keep in mind that
breast milk:
●
Is the ideal first food. It
contains exactly the right
amounts of nutrients to help
babies grow and is more eas-
ily digested than formula.
●
Contains natural antibod-
ies that help protect babies
from ear infections, diarrhea
and pneumonia.
●
May reduce the risk that
babies will develop aller-
gies, asthma or diabetes or
become overweight.
●
Is free—and requires no
preparation time.
A bonus: Breastfeeding
can help you recover from
childbirth more quickly and
easily, and it may reduce your
risk of getting breast or ovar-
ian cancer later in life.
SAFETY FIRST
Perhaps your
most important responsibil-
ity as a parent is to keep your
baby safe.
When it comes to trav-
eling, no newborn is safe
without a car seat, and you’ll
need one for that very first
ride—the one that will take
your baby from the hospi-
tal to your home. Your baby
should ride in a rear-facing
car seat until he or she is
at least 2 years old or has
reached the highest weight
or height allowed by the car
seat’s manufacturer.
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W I N T E R 2 0 1 5
T H E
S A M A R I T A N