BESIDES the thrill and excitement surrounding the birth of a new baby, expectant parents - especially first-timers - are inundated with things to do and ways to prepare in anticipation of their newborn. From picking out names to preparing the nursery and educating themselves on baby's first months, mothers and fathers-to-be are beset with decisions and to-do lists.

Among that list of things to do is to attend birthing classes. And just as people in Bermuda are now exploring alternative medicines for treatment and prevention of disease, they are also looking to alternative and natural choices for childbirth.

Just a few years ago, birthing classes were practically synonymous with Lamaze, a method that involves the use of distraction during contractions to decrease the perception of pain or discomfort, and generally prepares a couple for hospital routines.

But there are other alternatives now available in Bermuda. Couples who are looking to birth normally and naturally without the routine use of drugs or unnecessary interventions can now look to the Bradley Method, which focuses on systematic relaxation and working with the body, for childbirth.

MOST births today are still medicated, forceps or vacuum-extractor deliveries or caesarean surgery - not natural, drug-free, normal childbirths. Instead of natural births, most people who take prepared childbirth classes are being prepared for deliveries with drugs and mechanical interventions that are used routinely in almost all births, according to Susan McCutcheon, author of Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way.

The Bradley birthing method, however, has led the movement to return to natural, drug-free techniques in childbirths.

The alternative birthing method evolved in the early 1970s when a California couple - expecting their fifth child - sought out the information and teachings of Dr. Robert Bradley, a Denver, Colorado-based obstetrician.

Dr. Bradley, who was practising in the early 1960s when most mothers were completely drugged out for one or two days following a birth a condition known as twilight sleep, noticed that the way in which animals give birth was very different and more natural than human births. While women were too drugged to participate in their own births, animals showed an innate sense of how to birth, according to Bermuda Government health visitor and lactation consultant Lisa Blyden.

"Dr. Bradley saw that animals looked very sedate when giving birth whereas human births were very barbaric," she said. "So he came up with a method of imitating sleep the way animals do when they give birth and he shared this information with the Hathaways (the expectant couple) who went on to develop the method." The Bradley Method grew in popularity on the west coast and gradually spread across the Unites States to the east coast. And today classes are available in several countries around the world.

Experts in the field of natural childbirth, all Bradley instructors have gone through intensive training with the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth and are required to re-affiliate each year in order to continue teaching the course.

The Bradley Method was first introduced in Bermuda in May 2000 and some 70 students have since participated in the course, said Mrs. Blyden, who became interested in the Bradley Method after giving birth to her own two children.

"I was on maternity leave with my second child whose birth was very pleasant compared to my first. I didn't have medical intervention like I did with my first child - where I was induced and had an epidural. And I was a nurse in the maternity ward so even though I knew about birthing, I didn't give birth the way I wanted to," she said.

"So with my second child, I knew I wanted it to be different even though I didn't know about the Bradley Method at the time. I had my second very quickly with no drugs. And she was different (from the first) when she was born - she was more alert, she breast fed well from the start and she was really strong."

While on maternity leave, the obstetrics nurse saw A Baby Story on television which featured a woman giving birth via the Bradley Method. Having piqued her interest, she looked the birthing method up on the Internet and soon found herself taking part in a five-day training workshop in Ohio.

Mrs. Blyden went on to study the birthing method by way of distance education, and six months later, she sat her exam in order to qualify as a Bradley instructor. She later started With Women, the only organisation on the island to offer complete courses in the Bradley Method, with fellow Bradley Method instructor and partner Pandora Hardtman, who has since gone to work in the United States.

Now a strong proponent of the Bradley Method, Mrs. Blyden noted that 80 per cent of With Women students succeed in giving birth without drugs.

"The Bradley Method teaches women how to avoid drugs during pregnancy and birth by using other coping techniques such as relaxation, physical exercises and natural abdominal breathing," she said.

A labour of love, Mrs. Blyden teaches the increasingly popular birthing method out of the Red Cross building on Berry Hill Road in Paget.

The course, which is offered to no more than eight couples at a time, includes 12 units of instruction. The first class talks about how to keep oneself healthy and low risk during pregnancy, introduces important pregnancy exercises and discusses how to handle pain and avoid unnecessary pain in labour. The next few classes focus on nutrition, changes in the body and coaching during pregnancy as well as bonding and the father's role in breastfeeding.

Planning the birth and first stage and second stage labour techniques are also covered in addition to possible variations or complications and postpartum preparations. The final classes cover information for coaches on how to handle the challenges they will face in labour as well as newborn care, parenting, breastfeeding and adjusting to the many changes associated with having a baby.

Though every class has a specific topic which is covered in detail, each class also covers nutrition, exercise, positive communication and coaching, said Mrs. Blyden. As well, a different relaxation technique is demonstrated and assigned for practice each week, and classes often feature a film or video presentation.

"It is really wonderful watching husbands or partners and how they evolve in the class. At the beginning of the course, some are not particulary interested in being there. But in the end, they know what to do, they feel empowered and are calmer about the whole thing. It gives them confidence," said Mrs. Blyden, adding that none of her students has been disappointed with her classes. "Parents feel empowered. We provide them with detailed and intuitive birthing and parenting skills."

With Women encourages expectant mothers to speak with their doctors about their preferred birthing plan. Occasionally physicians may not agree with the parent's wishes, noted Mrs. Blyden. But in general, physicians often feel better when a couple is educated in childbirth. "If the parents are calmer, it makes the doctor's job easier," she said.

Former With Women student and the mother of a ten-month-old, Amanda Skinner said the Bradley Method provided her and her husband with a wonderful opportunity to get as much information and education about the process of childbirth and delivery as possible.

"I feel that very often people encourage you to take drugs to get through labour. But this is such a different approach. It's one that does not make you feel dependent on drugs or painkillers and it encourages you to listen to your body. Childbirth is what your body is made to do," she said, adding that the Bradley Method also encourages your coach to be 100 per cent involved so "you're not going through it alone".

For more information on the Bradley Method, please call Lisa Blyden of With Women at 237-2019 or 291-2512.