Are Parenting Classes Worth It or a Waste of Time (& Money)?

But nothing — not the class or the pregnancy books or the hours we spent watching parenting advice videos on YouTube — could have ever fully prepared me for what was to come. The utter exhaustion. The hormones. The first trips to the bathroom. The sheer joy I felt as I got to know the newest additions to my family. I had to learn all of these things by doing. Still, I felt more confident going into these new experiences knowing I had a foundation of knowledge — which, Dr. Tamar Blank tells SheKnows, is ultimately the goal of pregnancy and parenting classes. Dr. Blank is a licensed psychologist who runs a series of parenting classes in New York.

PSA: The Person Who Gave Birth Decides Who Meets the Baby First, Not You

Tamar Blank, Psy.D., a New York-based psychologist specializing in family relationships, understands the well-meaning impulse driving these would-be visitors. "The birth of a new child can be so exciting that others think about what this new life means for them—to be a new grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, or godparent," she says. But she cautions, we must remember, "this experience is about the mother and child first and foremost and it is important that family members and friends respect the mother's privacy and need for quiet for as long as she requests."