Product: Laugh and Learn About Childbirth - Lamaze and Beyond (2003)
Rating: 4.0
A Real Childbirth Class
I was very hesitant about purchasing this asfter reading reviews on how the instructor could be rather annoying, but as it was said to be very informative, I ordered it as I am not able to attend a class locally.First of all, this is an actual childbirthing class. Neither the instructor or parents are actors. Nothing is scripted, Sheri is just teaching the class as she has aparently done many, many times before. The parents are also definately not models, indeed the look of them provided me and my husband with the "laughter" part of the video.This is definately very low budget, as if they said, "Hey, let's make a video of one of your childbirth classes!", rented a small studio and pulled a few couches together. The visual aids are the same as a real class, drawings on poster board.As to being annoying, well, she can be. It was better that is was just her natural personality than if she had been some actor poorly tring to be funny and being annoying. She is blunt and to the point, somewhat loud, and relates stories she's heard/experienced in her professional career as a nurse that she found amusing in the same way. When you realise she's from New York her accent makes much more sense. Overall, she was not too annoying to watch, and really not that bad.The information makes everything worth while. It goes over everything you could think of, and I feel much better prepared. I watched the entire video immediately after I recieved it, and am benifiting still by rewatching it with my husband (at a much slower pace of one segment per week).If you cannot attend a childbirth class, I would reccomend this video. This would also be a good reference if you wanted to review a certian aspect of birth/afterbirth. It's not the glitz of Hollywood, but it does get the job done.