Following the survey I asked you about whether to attend childbirth preparation classes or not, some readers have left comments that point to the fact that they would like to be accompanied by their partners, but it is not possible because the work does not allow them to attend.
This has made me reflect and seek information on how important is the role of the couple in these cases, and the injustice that seems to me to be the fact that the current Spanish legal framework does not allow parents to be absent from work to attend these classes, unlike the permission that mothers do have.
Because according to Spanish law, both for prenatal exams and for childbirth preparation classes, workers will have the right to be absent from work for both reasons prior notice and justification to the company of the need for its performance during working hours. But he says nothing about the workers.
I've also thought about how desirable it would be that there were more variety of schedules as for the celebration of classes so that parents had more possibilities to attend (noon, Saturday, night ...), because after all they can become an indispensable part of the experience of bringing a child into the world. Fathers want it. Going to classes or preparing to face paternity in any other way is a gesture of responsibility and commitment in parenting.
The future father can, through these classes, contribute to the development of pregnancy and childbirth, live new experiences, strengthen the bond with his future son and also with the mother. And, of course, the father will also learn key concepts of pregnancy, childbirth, puerperium and first months of the baby's life.
The changes that the mother experiences during the final phase of pregnancy, the phases of childbirth, baby hygiene or breastfeeding are just an example of some concepts that are treated in the preparatory classes and that will clarify many doubts and fears to parents, preparing them to support women efficiently in all these key moments and to live them themselves in a more conscious and full way.
The father, if he has not already done so, can learn to communicate with his son or continue doing so, enhancing those magical moments through words or caresses. Classes can become a oasis of tranquility, even of intimacy (although we are surrounded by other couples) in our busy days, such as the time to go to bed, and be taken advantage of for that beautiful father-mother-bellied communion.
The father can learn to relieve frequent discomfort to his wife through massage techniques, or also know how to help during childbirth, where his role is also important.
The basic care of the newborn and the cures of the mother are other notions that are much more rewarding to approach as a couple and in some of them the father will take a very active role soon. Many mothers have not been the first to clean the meconium or take care of belly buttons, and we have needed to be cured.
The father will meet other couples and other parents who are in similar situations, with the enrichment of sharing experiences. In addition, through knowledge a important self-confidence thanks to security, and being a father starts living now. They will always have doubts, them and us, but what matters is to share them.
Even many men exclude themselves from these experiences, both from preparatory classes and other information and preparation channels. But luckily more and more people want to live fully the arrival of a new life And it can be done in many ways, good preparation classes are one more.
For all these reasons, for all these benefits, I consider it a real shame that they don't get more facilities for the couple's assistance in childbirth preparation. Even so, it seems that more and more parents do their best to attend classes. In my preparation classes I was surprised that we were mostly moms who went with a partner, yes, to the second part of the classes, more theoretical. The practices of exercises and the majority of breaths were done only by moms, mostly because of space problems, a shame.
In spite of everything, if finally the father cannot go to the classes, what matters is that all the benefits that we have seen in them are sought elsewhere. That it is read, that information is sought, that it sees videos and that it asks the mother to transfer what has been done in class and what has been said. That the father is interested in the pregnancy process and the future, that look for those moments of communication with the baby and care for the mother.
I would also like to point out that, although we talk about partner and of father, in the case of single moms It is also good that they come, if they wish, accompanied by that person of trust who will be with them at the time of delivery and the first days with the baby. The support, trust and help they will receive will be the same.
I remind you, moms and dads, that you can still leave your vote and comments about the preparatory classes in the survey that I proposed, whose results we will give at the end of this week.
