I am taking pregnancy classes now and will start parenting and birth classes soon. I found a few programs in my area that are not only free, but you get benefits from them. I just had a pregnancy class today and earned 11 credits in a program called "Learn While You Earn" that allows me to buy things for the baby in their boutique. And to give you an example of how awesome it is, after just two classes I have 36 credits and an Ergo Baby carrier is 30. :) So, I'm finding them not only informative but very useful and not a waste of money.
The childbirth classes are beneficial, I believe, even if you are planning to get any epi. Epis don't always work, or maybe take only on one side or stop working after a while. So it's good to have some resources at your disposal just in case that happens. It's rare but I've known a few women who claim that their epis wouldn't work on their left sides which means they were numb on the right and felt everything on the left and had to utilize other techniques to work through contractions.