Customer Reviews

Laugh and Learn About Childbirth - Lamaze and Beyond

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

This DVD is divided into 6 classes, just as a regular, live prenatal course would be. The classes are
1. Anatomy and Preliminary Signs of Labor (31:45)
2. Three Actual Signs of Labor and Two Breathing Techniques (57:50)
3. Labor and Delivery (49:25)
4. Pushing and Third Breathing Technique (49:25)
5. Medications Used in Labor, Induction, Forceps, Vacuum, and Monitoring (56:50)
6. Cesarean Delivery, Post-op C/S, and Postpartum Vaginal Delivery (40:50)

As a physician, I recommend it. I purchased this because my husband and I had way too much going on (moving, new jobs, etc.) during this pregnancy, and could not find a class that fit our schedule.

Sheri Bayles is extremely informative and experienced. She explains everything clearly and with good diagrams and props. She is very organized. She seems friendly.

CONS:
--Sheri has annoying mannerisms and really wants you to think she's a comedienne. If you can overcome this, you will learn a LOT from her.
--The set is really far from being aesthetically pleasing.
--Most of the moms don't look like they're REALLY participating; not great models for you. They also look like they stepped out of the 1980s, even though this was filmed in the 21st century.

The cons are small, though. This is very informative, if you can get past the annoying mannerisms and overall lack of prettiness to this video.

I liked having the classes laid out as a "real" class would have been. Sheri does a good job of making one class relevant to the next. I also enjoyed the convenience of this DVD; my husband and I were able to take this to work and play it on our computers, then watch it at home together, then review one final time, something you don't get to do if you take a live class.

So...I give it 5 stars for information, organization, and memorable delivery. I only gave it 4 stars overall because of the ugly-to-look-at-ness and the sometimes annoying qualities of the teacher. The information that lies therein is very, very high-quality. I'd buy this DVD again despite its minor shortcomings.

I am a first time mom and had no idea what I was in for as far as the birthing part goes. I don't have time to take a class so I bought this video. I am soooo happy I did! I have learned sooo much and feel very confident now about what to expect at the labor. Sherri Bayles is funny and explains things very very well. I highly recommend this video.

My husband and I purchased this DVD after attempting to attend an in-person childbirthing class....they just weren't for us. We loved being able to watch this DVD at our leisure in the privacy of our own home. This was one of two DVD's that we purchased and this one was by far the best. Sheri's sense of humor was perfect for the subject matter in my opinion. It really put my mind at ease (a lot of the other courses really scared me) and I feel extremely prepared for labor and delivery. I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone who wants the benefit of being knowledgeable of labor and delivery, yet is hesitant to join an in-person class. I'll certainly keep this one and watch it for subsequent pregnancies.

When we told our doctor that we wouldn't be able to attend a regular lamaze class due to our schedules, she recommended this dvd. We learned more than we thought possible and laughed throughout. In fact, my husband can quote the instructor verbatim. We even watched it twice, so he could take notes the second time around.
We recommend this for anyone who doesn't have time for a regular class. It certainly helped us prepare for our child's birth.

For those of you that don't or can't go to a traditional class, I think you will find this video/DVD very helpful. My husband and I like it because we can watch one segment at a time. If we feel we miss something or don't understand something, we simply replay that portion. We ordered this video when I was about 28 weeks into my pregnancy. I would recommend this to others so that you have time to ask your doctors all the questions that you can't ask the DVD.

After reading so many reviews that criticized Sheri Bayles' delivery (no pun intended), I was prepared to be informed but also annoyed. I was very pleasantly surprised--I thought her wry sense of humor and presentation were an excellent match to the material, and I watched the whole video in two days of viewing. My husband and I had dropped out of our local childbirth class because we found the nurse there to be incredibly annoying and full of scare tactics, and this was exactly the tone I wanted--informative, entertaining, and fast-paced. My one issue is that I would like to have had footage of labor, as many childbirth class videos seem to include that, and it might have been useful. For simply getting the basic information, though, I thought this was excellent.

I thought this was great. The complaints about sound and video quality I thought were unfounded. I didn't find her annoying and both my husband and I did laugh and learn. The breathing techniques are helpful and clearly taught, and being a dvd if you miss it or somehow just aren't getting it you can always rewind. I especially like this format compared to a class as I can review this any time I feel the need.

Okay, so it looks like it was filmed in the 70s and it's not that professionally done. The lady is a nurse from New York and her voice and accent don't let you forget it. She holds up the same two or three visual aids fifty times during the course of the video.

Still, it's a great video. My wife was doing her residency while she was pregnant, and we just couldn't sign up for regular classes. This video really prepared us for our son's birth, and answered a lot of questions we had. While covering all the basics and some of the complications that can happen, it tries to keep you grounded, so that you don't panic when something does happen. Highly recommended.

I negotiated that my husband would be in the delivery room as long as he didn't have to attend childbirth classes with gory videos. (And honestly, the idea of squatting on pillows and panting with a bunch of other preggies did not appeal to me either!) But when the time came closer we realized that we needed more info than the books could give. My husband purchased this and we both loved it. Lots of good info, and even the graphic stuff wasn't bothersome. We enjoyed her sense of humor and laughed a lot. Cost a fraction of what the hospital childbirth classes were running - plus, we plan to review it again in a month right before I'm due - you can't do that with regular childbirth classes.

A good choice for those who are not a ble to make it to birthing class, or those that want additional information. Funny, witty and covers everything from start to end.