It’s not all just about Mama. Dads, you deserve your own space too. This dedicated dad’s class is a mix of learning and unstructured networking with other guys. A parenting topic will be presented first by an Amma teacher, followed by time for Q&A. Then we’ll leave you to meet other new dads, swap tips and hang out. Bring your baby to class (and give mom a nice little break). Toys, a bottle warmer and other comfort items provided.
Expecting fathers are warmly welcomed and will enjoy getting a “sneak peek” about life with a new baby.
MacPhail is the best place to give your child a great start in music. Their teachers know how to strike just the right chord between creating fun, playful learning and teaching solid musical concepts. Children as young as 6 weeks old and up explore the world of music in an age-appropriate and engaging environment at the Amma center in Edina.
MacPhail Family Music
Family Music class features engaging, fun musical experiences geared for infants through young preschoolers. Very young children will learn about musical concepts such as steady beat, tempo, pitch, and more through singing, moving, instrument exploration, children’s literature and creative hands-on play. Experience the joy of creating a musical community! A six-week session.
Ages 6 weeks through 4 years
Tuition: $118 for the first child, $70 for each additional child for the six-week session.
Register directly through MacPhail here or call them directly at (612) 321-0100
MacPhail Musical Storytime for Babies
Enhance your baby’s development and learning through engaging musical story and sensory experiences. Babies will explore sounds, songs, instruments, motions, wiggles and giggles. Musical experiences boost your baby’s brain development, so join us for a weekly musical story time!
Ages: newborns through walking (after which you can move up!)
Tuition: $8.50 per family
Drop-ins welcome. Families can also sign up through Amma.
MacPhail Musical Storytime for Toddlers
Excite your active toddler’s brain through fast-paced musical play activities and engaging stories. Activities include singing, rhythmic instrument play, movement, and chants. Your toddler will engage in hands-on musical play that reinforces social emotional skills, vocabulary, fine motor, as well as pre-literacy and pre-math skills.
Ages: For children once they start walking through age four
Tuition: $8.50 per family
Drop-ins welcome. Families can also sign up through Amma.
UCare members may use their insurance benefits for select Amma Parenting Center classes. Classes may be taken at any of our locations, and we welcome UCare members delivering at any hospital. Registration must be completed by phone! UCare members may not register online, because your insurance will not reimburse you for charges you pay up front.
Individual classes covered by UCare:
Preparing for Childbirth (3-week, 2-week, or one-day versions)
Newborn Care
Breastfeeding
Combination Newborn Care and Breastfeeding
Labor Skills Workshop
Expecting Multiples
All-in-One Express
Childbirth Refresher
Prenatal Packages covered by UCare:
Ready for Baby package
All-in-One Express and Labor Skills
Some members may be eligible for transportation coverage with HealthRide and should check with UCare.
Please call us directly for all questions and for registrations at (952) 926-2229.
Whether you’re getting ready to start solids for the first time, or advancing to sippy cups and finger foods, our feeding workshops will help you create a framework for healthy eating in your family.
Baby Bites
Is your baby staring at you while you eat, opening her mouth whenever you take a bite? Maybe it’s time to think about solid food! In this beginner’s class, usually taken at about four to seven months, you learn:
Signs of readiness, and knowing when to start solids
How to incorporate solids into your breastfeeding or bottle feeding routines
Good food choices for younger babies
Reading your baby’s hunger and satiety cues, and how to avoid pressuring your child to eat
Social and emotional aspects of feeding
The “Division of Responsibility” concept
Safety and allergy concerns
Tuition: $30 for the 90 minute class. Tuition covers two members of the same family. Babies welcome.
Bigger Bites
Your older baby is ready for the next steps! In this follow-up class, usually taken at seven to twelve months, you’ll learn:
How to start finger foods, and increasing the texture of spoon foods
Exposing your child to a wide palate of flavors
All about self-feeding
Sippy cups and straw cups
Promoting a healthy relationship with food
Tuition: $30 for the 90 minute class. Tuition covers two members of the same family. Babies welcome. (This class is bring piloted this spring. Pilot class tuition is $15).
New babies can bring great joy to parents, but they can also bring new relationship challenges. The Bringing Baby Home program, developed by Dr John Gottman, gives couples research-tested tools and information needed to help the transition to parenthood. Strengthen both your new family and your relationship using this series of workshops.
The Bringing Baby Home program rotates through three different seminars. We invite you to take these seminars separately or as a 3-class series. Tuition for each seminar is $45, but families can take all three at a $15 discount for $120. To receive the discount, apply the Promotion Code BBH upon checkout.
Parents are welcome to take these seminars at any point in their pregnancies or as new parents. The classes can be taken in any order. Babies birth through not-yet-crawling are welcome, too!
Seminar One: The Transition to Parenthood
What to expect after having a baby
What research shows is typical for couples to experience during the transition to parenthood
Recognizing the 10 reasons why the transition can be challenging
5 ways to build friendship
Understanding the impact of your relationship quality on parenting
Seminar Two: Emotional Communication and Children
Recognizing emotions in your child
Examining your own parenting style
The 5 steps for Emotion Coaching
How your relationship satisfaction impacts your parenting
Seminar Three: Managing Stress and Conflict Resolution
Four warning signs
Why it’s important to manage stress
4 ways couples experience conflict
4 steps to help a child after an argument or fight
Parents of twins (or triplets) need extra preparation! Caring for multiple tiny babies at once brings its own special set of joys and challenges. Join other families of multiples as we walk you through childbirth, care and feeding, and adjusting to life as a family of four or more. Spending time with a small group of other expectant parents will let you graduate with a support network of people who know just what you’re going through. A visit from a new family with multiple babies will cap off our time together.
In this four-week series, families will learn:
The birth process, and how c-sections and vaginal births are modified for multiples
What to know about breastfeeding multiples, and how to ensure a plentiful milk supply from Day One (includes information on pumping breast milk)
Introducing bottles, feeding options, and sample schedules
Newborn care procedures in the hospital, and care of premature babies
Basic care of your newborns, including bathing, diapering, swaddling, soothing, and detecting illness
Self-care, sleep, and how to cope with the emotional challenges of multiple babies
Building your support community of playgroups, other parents, and online resources
A guest family of multiples will visit on the last night to share their experience
Tuition: $150 for the four week series (tuition covers the pregnant mother plus one support person).
We strongly recommend this class be completed by 32 to 34 weeks of pregnancy.
We ask that families read our policies before registering for classes. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Private childbirth classes can be often be arranged upon request for a tuition of $300 for a 3-hour session. If you are on bed rest with your multiples, consider our Preparing for Childbirth Online. It is not specific to multiples but has excellent information.
We accept UCare insurance for this class. UCare members must register by phone, not online. If you have insurance through MinnesotaCare or Medical Assistance other than UCare, please call us directly at (952) 926-2229. You may be eligible for a free childbirth class.
Journey to Birth is Amma’s newest and most innovative childbirth class. Over the course of six weeks, we’ll not only explore what to expect from the physical process, but also how to prepare for the experience with your body, mind, and heart.
The birth process is the foundation of the class, and layered with extensive instruction in labor coping skills, making it the most comprehensive prenatal class at Amma. With less lecture and more interactive, hands-on learning, we will explore issues like keeping a positive attitude about your body’s abilities, advocating for yourself, exploring emotions, and how to prepare yourself for parenthood.
Spending time within a small group of other parents-to-be establishes a support network of other families who may become friends for life! You’ll even have a visit from a graduate Journey to Birth family with their baby.
You’ll learn:
The complete birth process
Coping strategies for labor, including pain medication and comfort techniques
Cesarean birth
Decision-making and how to advocate for yourself in a medical setting
Planning out a “wish list” with goals for your birth
Postpartum healing
The transition to parenthood, with breakout sessions for both mothers and support partners
All the breathing, relaxation, massage, aromatherapy, and position changes (and more!) from our Labor Skills Workshop, with ample time to practice
Weekly take-aways such as journaling projects, relaxation exercises and positive affirmations
How to make a plan for your care team, both in the hospital and at home with baby
The last night is our “Sneak Peek” night. You’ll be visited by a new family and a New Mama Class teacher to prepare you for what’s ahead.
We recommend taking this class with plenty of time before your due date to practice the techniques throughout the third trimester. Please budget time to finish the class by about 34-36 weeks. As always, all families are welcome regardless of where their babies will be born. For those families birthing in a hospital, please note that a tour is not part of prenatal classes at Amma. We encourage you to contact your hospital directly for information about tours.
Tuition: $195 for one pregnant woman and a partner
We ask that families read our policies before registering for classes. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Please note: Insurance coverage is not available for this class.
How to tell if your child is developmentally ready to potty train
Several different methods, and how to choose one based on your child
Which supplies are helpful (and which are not)
How to start, and when to back off
All about incentives
Common stumbling blocks, and how to troubleshoot
You’ll come away with a plan to make potty training relaxed and successful for everyone.
Tuition: $30 per family for the 1.5-hour class.
Children must stay home so the grown-ups can learn. We invite each couple to bring one additional care giver (nanny, grandparent) if needed, so you all can work together to potty train consistently.
Amma Parenting Center has partnered with Creative Kidstuff, the Twin Cities’ most beloved toy store!
Select Amma classes can be found at Creative Kidstuff stores on Grand Avenue store in St Paul. The Grand Avenue store is located at 1074 Grand Avenue in St Paul, at the intersection of Grand and Lexington.
Be sure to check out the new CK Baby Shop in the Grand Avenue store, and look for the “Amma Parenting Center Top Pick” stickers on all our favorite baby gear.
Preparing for Childbirth Online
Although we’re believers in the benefits of an in-person childbirth class, we know it’s not always possible for families. Whether your reasons are due to scheduling constraints, location, or a medical condition, our online childbirth class is the perfect option.
This easy-to-use online program lets you learn at your own pace, in your own home or hospital room. The topics covered include:
Pregnancy: what to expect as you near your due date
Labor: the complete process of giving birth to a baby
Birth stories: watch various videos of mothers in different situations as they birth their babies
Comfort Techniques: everything you and your birth partner need to know about coping with labor
Medical Procedures: the possible procedures and supportive technology you may experience
Cesarean Birth: giving birth by C-section and what to expect for recovery
Newborns: what to expect for early care in the hospital, car seat installation, SIDS prevention, and coming home with your baby
Postpartum: the physical and emotional recovery process, and a short segment on getting the baby started at breastfeeding
Ask an educator: you’ll have the opportunity to email an Amma Parenting Center childbirth educator your questions as you go along (this feature discontinues after your class has timed out at 15 days)
The online class includes many videos, animations, interactive features, and quizzes to help with learning.
Good to know:
You can take the online class on a Mac or PC. All you need is high-speed Internet service.
After purchasing your class online through our 3rd-party software system, we will send you an email within 72 hours explaining the process of how to begin.
There is tech support available to you.
After opening the link to your class, you will have access to the online class and the Amma educators for 15 days.
Because in-person learning is so effective as you prepare for birth, we offer our Labor Skills Workshop for $25 (a $15 savings). Your promotion code will be sent to you after you purchase Preparing for Childbirth Online. Learn more about packages.
Tuition: $85 per couple. Enter our registration software to purchase.
We encourage you to call any time to ask questions or get help! (952) 926-2229.
Insurance coverage is not available for this class. We ask families to read our policies before registering for any classes.
