Prenatal Education

Southlake Regional Health Centre promotes prenatal education as the most effective way for women to prepare for their childbirth experience and to gain information on how best to care for themselves and their babies following birth.

A Baby’s Coming – Prenatal Education

Classes are taught by a highly experienced team specializing in pregnancy, birth, and newborn care. Each class is designed to assist expectant parents to make informed choices both during and after pregnancy.

Each course consists of four classes. Please select the course option that best suits your needs.

Option A
Four weekly classes are offered Monday and Thursday, 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Option B
Weekend courses are held:
Friday, 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Both Options A & B offer the following classes:

Class 1 – Process of labour and birth:
Signs of labour, when to go to the hospital, breathing, exercise and relation techniques

Class 2 – Comfort measures:
Pain management (all options presented), birthing, and relation techniques

Class 3 – When things do go as planned:
Information on inductions, caesareans, forceps, vacuum, breech, episiotomy, and laceration.

This class includes a tour of the Birthing Unit at Southlake Regional Health Centre.

Class 4 – Immediate care of mom and baby following birth:
Includes the baby’s bath, post-partum blues, breastfeeding, and bottle feeding.

Please register early (preferable by 20 weeks of pregnancy). Women expecting more than one child are advised to register earlier.

Click here for a registration form.

Click here for Class Schedule

Click here for Birthing Unit Tour Schedule

Cancellation Policy:

A course refund will only be issued for those cancellations received more than 14 days in advance of the first scheduled class, minus a $25 administration fee.  A refund may be available for those cancellations associated with premature delivery.  
Please note that we are unable to accommodate rearranging class dates due to the limited availability of spaces.
For a complete list of prenatal resources available in your community, Southlake recommends that you contact York Region's Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program at 1-800-361-5653.

For directions to Southlake Regional, click here.

For information on resources available to you during your hospital visit or stay (for example: parking, what to bring, discharge times and other helpful information) please click on Patients and Visitors.