That's right! Dr. Guy Skinner knows what he's talking about. Quality childbirth education has so many benefits. Classes help to dispel many of the myths surrounding labour and birth, which directly impact on the level of fear and anxiety with which a woman approaches childbirth. Unfortunately, there aren't any large studies done in Australia on the impact of quality birth education, but in February 2016, a study presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s annual meeting showed that women who took a childbirth education class or had a birth plan were more likely to have a vaginal delivery than women who didn’t. Vaginal delivery is less invasive than a C-section, and it tends to lead to shorter hospital stays, lower infection rates, and quicker recovery. For this study, researchers at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles followed more than 14,000 women who gave birth over a 3-year period. Approximately 30 percent of these women attended a childbirth education class and 12 percent had a birth plan. They found the women who attended a class were about 25 percent more likely to have a vaginal delivery than women who didn’t, and women who had a birth plan were almost twice as likely to avoid a C-section. And the benefit wasn’t just for first-time moms – it was present for all women. While the exact reasons for these results are unclear, they do suggest that more preparation before childbirth may increase your odds of a vaginal delivery, proving once again there is great value in prenatal education. There is no doubt that when a woman feels more prepared for birth and understands her options it can help reduce her anxiety and help to move towards a positive birth which can also help new parents adapt more easily to life with a newborn.