Beaufort County Health Department is offering childbirth education classes to give expectant mothers a better outcome at delivery.

According to Michelle Linton, community outreach and education nurse, the classes provide soon-to-be parents with important information about pregnancy and the experience of giving birth. The classes are presented as a series of five engaging and interactive two-hour sessions and led by Linton. The series will be offered continuously, with the next cycle to start Sept. 28.

The classes will cover a variety of topics, including healthy pregnancy, use of non-medicinal practices to ease the discomforts of pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum mother needs and newborn care. Other subject matter includes coping skills and the importance of having a support person to depend on throughout a pregnancy, as well as after childbirth. Class participants are encouraged to bring a support person to the classes, as well, Linton said.

“It’s important (to bring a support person) to help them learn how they can help a woman through her pregnancy,” Linton said. “They’re a very important tool in coping and reaching goals of a successful and natural delivery.”

Linton said the courses will also feature guests speakers, who will discuss breastfeeding, postpartum birth control needs and delivery stories from new mothers. The third class of the series will also give expectant mothers the opportunity to tour the labor and delivery floor of Vidant Beaufort Hospital.

The purpose of these classes is to provide empowerment to expectant mothers and families by providing knowledge of what to expect, how to prepare and how to cope with the unknowns of labor and delivery, according to Linton.

“The tools and knowledge these classes provide will help increase mothers’ chances of having healthy and satisfying birth experiences,” Linton said.

For more information, call Michelle Linton, RN at 252-940-5096.