Become a mom, in easy steps

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Winslow Clinic will offer classes on childbirth in January.

When it comes to childbirth, islander Mimi Malgarini has experienced the full range of its joys and sorrows.

Her first pregnancy with daughter Quinn in 1995 was so pleasurable and fascinating that the physical therapist also became a credentialed childbirth educator, teaching her first group of expectant parents while pregnant with her second child in 1997.

But the outcome took a tragic turn when the baby, named Grace, died after birth as a result of a neurological syndrome.

“We were all pregnant together, and my story had a completely different ending from the others,” said Malgarini. “It was a gut-wrenching experience, but positive in that it gave me hope and confidence.

“I learned that although many things can go wrong, most often they don’t.”

So she and her husband decided to try again, despite their fears. Two years later, in 1999, she gave birth to son Joseph, who was 10 weeks premature.

“I feel I have experienced the whole range of pregnancy and childbirth experiences, of life and death, and I have a lot to offer,” Malgarini said. “I am very empathetic and very tuned in, which is something I gained the hard way.”

On Jan. 11, Malgarini will begin teaching a seven-week childbirth preparation class from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday evenings at the Virginia Mason Clinic in Winslow.

The class is offered through the nonprofit agency Great Starts Birth and Family Education in Seattle, which has provided childbirth education at area hospitals for 50 years.

“This is an all-encompassing class, not a natural childbirth class,” Malgarini said.

Rather than teaching a particular birthing technique or method, “it’s pretty middle-of-the-road, and it’s our hope that clients will get enough information so that they can make decisions and have a positive birth experience.”

The class will offer a comprehensive overview of labor, birth and parenting, including:

• Care for mother and baby during pregnancy

• What to expect during labor and birth

• Ways to cope with labor contractions, including breathing, massage, changing positions and labor support

• Typical hospital routines, pain medications, possible medical interventions, and how to make informed choices about options

• Breast feeding and newborn care

The classes will include a reunion, when participants get together after birth to show off their babies.

The curriculum for the class comes from the book “Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn,” co-authored by part-time island resident Janet Whalley, whose husband’s family has had a summer place at South Beach since the 1920s.

With more than 1 million in print, the book is routinely given to women in their first trimester of pregnancy by doctors around the country. The tuition for the class, $135 per couple, includes a copy of the book.

An expert in childbirth education and breastfeeding, Whalley was the executive director of the Childbirth Education Association in Seattle for 25 years.

She and co-authors Peggy Simkin and Anne Keppler all work directly with women, “so we have lots and lots of contact with families, and the book is well researched and provides people with techniques that we know work,” Whalley said. “It’s what they need to know.”

Whalley is currently at work on another book, “A Simple Guide to Having Baby,” which is easier to read and will be translated into Spanish, she said.

To register for Malgarini’s class, call (206) 789-0883 or email info@greatstarts.org.

For future class dates, see www.greatstarts.org.