VIRGINIA (WAVY) — Riverside Health System announced on Saturday that it will be streaming online childbirth preparation classes and virtual labor and delivery tours via Zoom for parents who are expecting.
Registration is required and those interested can do so online.
The childbirth preparation classes will begin April 20 as a four-class series offered in two-hour increments on Mondays and Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The course features both an educational presentation and an instructor to take participants through various scenarios.
“Our main goal with all of this is to keep our team members, patients, and families safe,” said Ticorea Williams, RN, Director of Nursing for Labor and Delivery at Riverside Regional Medical Center.
Virtual tours will be on Tuesdays from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. now through June 2 and during them, participants can ask questions and see the hospital including photos of delivery rooms and the neonatal intensive care unit.
“People who have never stepped foot in the building before might have a lot of questions and we want to be able to answer them,” Williams said. “When people are on the tour in real life, they have lots of questions, too.”
Additional free programs and classes are also available and include baby care class, breastfeeding class, C-section preparation, car seat safety and more.
“During this time of uncertainty, I think a lot of people are really anxious, especially first-time moms who have not had a baby before,” said Williams. “Not only are they worried about childbirth and everything that comes with it, they have to worry about a virus that’s going around, not having visitors at the hospital and so many of the unknowns. We launched these virtual events to help bring as much normalcy to the current climate as possible.”
