I took a 6 week hospital-based childbirth class the first time that I really liked and remember well. Things I liked:
1. Instructors wrote a short agenda on the board, so you knew what was going to be covered that night and helped the class move along.
2. We took a break halfway through each class, which was good for socializing with other soon-to-be firsttime parents. Even better would have been if the instructors had suggested we start up a snack schedule.
3. instructors were very good about giving a pro and con to most things they discussed. I specifically remember them fairly outlining the pro and cons of episiotomies, of epidurals, of Nubain/Stadol.
4. We didn't watch videos of birth until a bit futher into the class. I think a lot of dads (and some moms) aren't comfortable with the sounds, images and discomfort of birth, and it's a lot to deal with right away. Plus, that's a lot of private anatomy to be watching in a group of strangers. Dh and I switched hospitals and therefore attended one session of a childbirth class at the other hospital, which showed a birth video on the first night. It didn't go over well, and the overall weakness of that childbirth class is in fact why we returned to our good class at the wrong hospital.
5. Our instructor passed out actual items used in the delivery room. I specifically remember passing around the screw/monitor using in internal monitoring and they may have passed around the tubing that is taped to your back for an epidural. We also had birthing balls in class on at least one day, to practice comfort measures with . If possible, I think it might also have been nice to have seen/felt the external monitor belt, forceps, vaccuum.... not sure what else.
6. The last class consisted of a pediatrician talking to us about newborn care and showing photos of typical newborn conditions (baby acne, baby dandruff, soft spot, etc.) I knew a lot of it, but was definitely not used to what it all looked like.
7. Our instructors did not do anything to try and facilitate a reunion for us, but that would have been nice, even just passing out an address list and suggesting the idea of a 3month reunion and a possible locale for it.
I have a friend who is a chidlbirth instructor at a large medical center and she does an exercise about "paper tigers." It's from Birthing from Within and she says it is popular in her classes, even though neither her class nor students come from any particular birth philosophy. I don't remember exactly what it is, but somethign about what worries you, what you can do to address it, how likely it is. Some way of addressing some fears. It is a paper exercise; you don't have to share what you write with anyone.
Lastly, I took a childbirth refresher class when expecting DD2. One very helpful thing was one or two exercises focussed on things to do to make it easier caring for a baby with an older child around. We talked about what to stock in a bag for feeding times, things we could do in advance to make things easier, etc.
Advice and commentary on living overseas
DD1 15, DD2 12, and DS 9