Four Seattle moms — a doctor, nurse, editor and computer programmer — combined their knowledge to create new multimedia software that teaches expectant moms about childbirth and new baby care.

Born out of mom connections — two of the women met at their daughters' ballet studio — the comprehensive software is garnering raves from local pregnant women and medical professionals.

"When I saw it, I thought, 'Wow, this is really impressive,' " said Julie McAferty, a Swedish Medical Center childbirth nurse who reviewed the software and found it "really thorough." "It allows parents to go in-depth as much as they want. If you have a question, it's pretty easy to locate the information."

The interactive CD-ROM, "Childbirth: A Multimedia Course and Resource Kit," offers 20 hours of instruction on the final weeks of pregnancy, delivery, postpartum issues and newborn care through video and audio clips, pictures and text.

It includes extras such as a dictionary of terms, a birth-announcement template, list of baby names and even tips on planning a baby shower. There's also a four-minute video clip showing a live birth at Swedish.

"The CD is different from a traditional birth class because it has more information, the user can go at her own pace, and it's easy to skip over areas that don't seem as interesting (and go back to those areas when they become relevant)," explained Dr. Allison Fitzgerald, a family-practice physician who wrote the course, working with educational-program developer Gali Rosen.

Rosen, a mom of two from Israel, hesitated to take a childbirth class here because of the language barrier but couldn't find other adequate resources. She explained her multimedia idea to Fitzgerald while they waited for a ballet class more than four years ago.

Fitzgerald praises local childbirth classes but says expectant moms in rural areas or other parts of the country may not have as many options.

The software, which can run on a laptop, also targets pregnant women on bed rest; second-time moms who want a do-it-yourself refresher; and dads-to-be who like computers.

"This is extremely beneficial for people with time constraints because of work or other kids," said Seattle expectant mom Dana Raigrodski, an attorney with 6- and 4-year-olds. Even on her third time around, she learned new things from the program, such as how to give medicine to a newborn. She also appreciated the extensive section on breastfeeding.

"It's very detailed, like a book, but you also get the benefit of demonstrations," said Raigrodski, who is a friend of Rosen's. "It's the best of both worlds. And you have the ability to do it on your own, when you have a little quiet time."

McAferty's husband, for one, would never sit down and read a childbirth-education book, but "the CD format, where you can just click on what you want to know about, would be a more appealing style for him."

Dr. David Loren, a University of Washington pediatrics professor and neonatologist at Children's Hospital & Medical Center, found the course layout "very intuitive." "There's a sense of progress both from a learning perspective and how labor itself progresses," said Loren, who contributed to the section on newborn intensive care. "I would recommend it to any mom or dad."

Professionals praised "Childbirth" for its nonjudgmental and balanced approach on sometimes controversial topics such as pain medication (epidural v. natural) and feeding (breast v. bottle). That's intentional, Rosen said, since two of the four moms breastfed and did natural labor while the other two opted for childbirth drugs and bottle feeding.

It highlights alternative options, including home birth, midwives and doulas (a midwife provided Fitzgerald's prenatal care; two of her three children were born at home).

Fitzgerald, who has delivered babies for 15 years, wanted to address more than just pregnancy ("Labor is finite; parenting is forever," she notes), including an extensive section on postpartum and baby care — down to the basics.

"I either have parents afraid to give a bath or who go overboard and end up aggravating their baby's sensitive skin," Fitzgerald wrote in an e-mail from Norway, where she is spending a year sabbatical with her husband and three children.

So registered nurse Rebekah Ashton, who works as a childbirth educator at the University of Washington Medical Center, demonstrated many of the nursing and baby-care techniques (changing a diaper, giving a bath) with her daughter Ava Rose Moss, now 1-½, for the video clips.

"It's one thing to read or be told something and another to actually see someone do it," Ashton said. "You can listen to it, read it or watch it — whatever is the best way for the individual learner."

The CD even presents color pictures of the contents of newborn diapers. Gross, but very relevant to new parents, Fitzgerald said. "In my practice, I get many calls and even some visits with moms and their newborns because of 'diarrhea,' " she said.

Parents can customize a birth plan, clicking on options to print out a concise list. "Occasionally I get handed a 20-page birth plan, which is not useful to anyone," Fitzgerald said.

Rosen, Fitzgerald and editor Sandra Kaplan created a company, Modus Five, to sell the CD, which is available at Amazon.com for $74.95. It would require several hospital courses to cover the same topics, for upwards of $200 (but without the individualized instruction).

None of the medical professionals see the CD-ROM replacing hospital-birth classes, where "the camaraderie and communication among the couples that can take place does more for building confidence than anything that can be taught," noted Ashton.

But it does provide an alternative to folks who want to, as Kaplan explains, "see skills modeled that they can practice in the convenience of their family room, without having to leave the house."

Stephanie Dunnewind: sdunnewind@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2091.