Print edition: 
As Tresa Palmer and her husband, David, were boarding their trans-Atlantic flight to France, they encountered what every air traveler dreads: a crying baby who was defying every effort to be soothed by his mother. Fortunately for the mother and child — and all the passengers on board — Palmer was able to offer her expertise as a childbirth educator trained in a particular baby-calming method to quiet the infant.
"We never heard from him again that whole flight," said Palmer, who used a method developed by pediatrician Harvey Karp, a child development specialist with the University of Southern California School of Medicine.
It's a method she'll start sharing monthly with local parents in a free two-hour program being offered by Via Christi.
Thanks to an $86,000 grant from the retailer Kohl's to Via Christi Health, expectant parents can take advantage of the free classes to ensure they and their newborns are off to a healthy start.
In addition to the baby-calming class, called Happiest Baby on the Block after Karp's trademarked program, Via Christi is offering a free class for expectant dads called Boot Camp for Dads. Also through the Kohl's grant, it is offering scholarships for Via Christi's new interactive, web-based childbirth education classes.
Via Christi, Wesley Medical Center and the Sedgwick County Health Department offer a variety of childbirth education classes.
The movement to offer childbirth education classes started about four decades ago, according to parents.com, primarily as a way to demystify the birthing process.
Now classes cover a gamut of topics, from preparing older siblings and even first-time grandparents, to the increasingly popular calming methods and the dads-to-be classes.
"These kinds of classes are extremely important to help new parents feel equipped to deal with this new baby in their lives," said Adrienne Byrne-Lutz, who oversees the Sedgwick County Health Department's children and family health divisions.
Calming down baby — and you
One of the greatest challenges for parents of a newborn is calming a crying baby. Often, mothers are asked if their newborn is a "good" baby, a euphemism for whether the baby is a crier.
Palmer became certified in Karp's method about six years ago, as a way to meet continuing education credits required for her certification as a lactation consultant. Since then, she's had plenty of opportunities to use the method as she works with breast-feeding mothers at Via Christi hospital on East Harry.
"It's a godsend," Palmer said.
Part of Karp's motivation for developing the method, Palmer said, was to prevent child abuse.
"There's nothing more stressful than when you've used all your tricks and nothing stops the crying," Palmer said. Unfortunately, some parents become so frustrated they end up hurting their babies.
Five steps comprise the program. Sometimes the first step will calm the baby, sometimes it takes all five. What all five have in common is that they in some way mimic conditions in the womb, from re-creating the confined space by swaddling the baby in a particular way to shushing with the parent's mouth close to the baby's ear to reproduce the vacuum cleaner-like decibel level in the womb.
The steps all are meant to trigger the self-calming reflexes that the baby has used in the womb.
The reflexes "will go away unless you continue to use them and reinforce them," said Palmer.
Focusing on the dads
More and more dads-to-be are taking an active role in childbirth classes, and educators are taking notice by offering classes that focus on those dads.
"We've even had one dad come when the mother didn't want to," recalled Byrne-Lutz, from the health department, which offers its Healthy Babies program for first-time and teen mothers for free.
"Education is extremely, extremely important and especially for dads since they tend to be a forgotten entity," she said. "Finally, more programs are addressing that."
Via Christi's dads-only offering, Boot Camps for Dads, is a national program, originally founded near a U.S. Marine base in California. It helps men prepare for their new roles as fathers by bringing in veteran dads to talk to expectant dads.
When Jeff Walenta and his wife, Amy, were expecting their first child three years ago, he couldn't find any resources focused on first-time dads. When he was asked to be one of the veteran dads to share his fatherhood experiences at the first Boot Camp for Dads class in July, he agreed, and brought the couple's second daughter, then-3-month-old Julia.
"There's not much out there for guys to get together and talk about this," said Walenta.
Julia also provided an "opportunity" to illustrate the diaper-changing process.
The three-hour class not only deals with the usual items like burping and diaper-changing, but also on changes in family dynamics and expectations from one's partner. Participants also get a free book, "Crash Course for New Dads," by Greg Bishop.
"As you talk to other dads, you tend to overcome your fears," said James Martin, who went through the class a few months ago and now is a stay-at-home dad to 2-month-old Emma Grace after being laid off. "It helps guys who may or may not have been around a baby. Yeah, this is your kid, but you'll still have questions, like 'will I break her when I hold her?' "
The first time his wife, Hannah, commented on his diaper-changing method, Martin recalled one of the veteran dads mentioning that would happen. He was prepared for his comeback, asking how she wanted him to change the diaper. "Now when she's around, I change the baby one way and then when she's not, I do it my way."
"This class is something I think every new dad should take," Martin said.
Classes available
A variety of childbirth education classes are available through Via Christi, Wesley Medical Center and the Sedgwick County Health Department. Class lengths and costs vary.
* In addition to the free Happiest Baby on the Block and Boot Camp for Dads classes, Via Christi offers childbirth preparation and baby care courses and classes for young siblings for a fee. It recently started offering a new web- based interactive course for parents who are unable to take the classroom options. Scholarships for the online course are available. Discounts are offered if taking multiple classes. To register or for more information, call Via Christi Health Connection, 316-689-5700.
* Wesley Medical Center also offers a variety of classes, including a free class for women who've had a cesarean and want to prepare for their next birth. Its baby-calming class is focused on the Dunstan Baby Language method, devised by Australian mother and former musician Priscilla Dunstan, according to educator and coordinator Ruthie Schmidt. It also offers a class focused on dads, for a fee. Discounts are offered for multiple classes and to participants in the county health department's Healthy Babies program. For more information or to register, call Wesley Family Life Education, 316-962-2290.
* The Sedgwick County Health Department offers Healthy Babies, a program for first-time and teen moms, for free. The program continues to grow, with up to a dozen classes a week offered. For more information or to enroll, call 316-660-7433.
