NCT courses, worth it?

[shouldIbecrossaboutthis]

I Have looked after children from newborn for 10 years, weaned 50 and potty trained 38. I know nothing can prepare you for having your own children, but in terms of "handling" (??) I know what I'm doing. Apart from the breastfeeding bit! DP doesn't have a clue.

A local NCT course is £240, it includes 2 hours on breastfeeding And 7 other 2 hour sessions but I don't know what they will cover. The course costs £240, is that not a lot?

I thought I would look at a course to make some local mum friends, but it just seems so much money. Will I be a Billy no mates if I don't do this course?

I also want to do a hypnobirthing course which is £275, but judgey pants pulled up I don't think I'd meet many like minded people there. So another course at the same price seems excessive!

I'm pregnant with my first, and haven't been to any classes yet. But from what I've heard by spending too much time on mumsnet some people enjoy the classes and like meeting people there, but that it isn't really cost effective and that you can meet many of the same people at much cheaper groups with your little one once he/she arrives.

It depends on whether you feel you need to attend a taught class on breastfeeding - as opposed to learning from books/internet/other mums more informally. There should be breastfeeding groups you can attend once your baby is here, but I don't know if they are often enough to be sufficient if you have difficulties (think my sister attended one that met every fortnight) but then you could get one to one support from a peer supporter or lactation consultant if baby isn't feeding well.

I haven't been to my NHS antenatal classes yet (been booked in for ones the month before I'm due) but I think they are meant to cover breastfeeding though I don't know how much depth it'll be in (I guess it might just be trying to convince people to try it rather than practical advice for those definately doing it).

If you like to learn from books, I've found "The Food of Love" by Kate Evans to be amusing (there are loads of cartoon style illustrations) and informative. People on here also recommend "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" - though I haven't got this yet.

Yup I have both of those and I've read the Ina May book on breastfeeding, to be honest I'd be happy to get advice from the Internet and I've already read lots on it from various website, mainly because of my job.

I forgot the NHS did courses, are they cheaper do you know? I might give them a bash as a way to meet people. Dragging my arse to a toddler group with a newborn isn't my idea of fun so I don't think I'd meet many people locally.

That and my face of course!

I'm perfectly happy with my birth and bf experience, and I didn't use NCT. I did go to a set of three NHS classes. I thought the bf one was very valuable, I thought the labour one saved me from trying to learn when to call the hospital from a book, you wouldn't need the how to bring the baby home one.

NHS ante-natal classes are free. Mine lasted 4 weeks (once a week), each class lasted 90 minutes. I felt it was enough for me - the balance was right without overcomplicating too much. And yes, one session did cover breastfeeding (which I had to miss as I had a scan at the same time). Most of mums-to-be from this batch of classes (5 in total - I liked having such a small class) are meeting tomorrow for coffee, so the opportunity to make friends is equal regardless of which ante-natal classes you choose to attend (NCT or NHS).

Oh, and (crossed with your post) they were free and I'm still in touch with everyone I met there, nearly two years later.

I went to NCT and it gave a lot of information about labour, induction, interventions, hormones, life with a new baby. The breastfeeding session was useless but then you can't actually imagine what that would be like until you have the baby.

I made friends with a lovely set of people, 2 years down the line some of us have drifted away from the group but we do all meet up sporadically. I'd say it was worth it for the friendship group you get post birth and also for the indepth advice.

I also went to the NHS classes, 3 * 1 hour sessions, apart from the tour of the hospital which also covered interventions I thought they weren't much good. I didn't keep in touch with anyone.

Umm I think you should probably consider the free NHS courses if it's info you are after. The quality and accuracy of information on NCT courses varies wildly according to instructor (mine was AWFUL) but others have had good experiences. It mostly concentrates on childbirth and bf with only a bit on looking after a newborn. It sounds like you know what you are talking about already though!

I have had a VERY good experience in terms of meeting friends, we all have no. 2 babies that play with each other now, and still meet a lot, but again it's quite variable as others I know who have had the same course just months after have not met like minded people and it's been a waste of money for them. But I am quite shy in baby groups so I'm not sure I would have met any friends like that! The free NHS classes were huge so not much opportunity to meet anyone there either.

I found my NCT antenatal course very informative but found the so-called "social" side of things abysmal. My NCT group, for some reason, attracted a certain type of mum, of which I am not one (affluent, terrified, Gina- Fordist). It was in the "Nappy Valley" area of SW London however, so that could explain things.

I just didn't "gel" with any of the mums. Out of 6, I was the only one who didn't want (or have) interventions during birth, and the only one exclusively bfing after 6 weeks (shockingly to me at the time, I was also the only one who wasn't doing controlled crying by 6 weeks). Several of the group also employed night nurses. I was a complete fish out of water (what with the natural birth choices, co-sleeping, and baby-led breastfeeding; not to mention the massive sling collection and no pushchair!).

Obviously, this is just my experience, and also was massively influenced by my personal parenting choices. I live in a different area now, and I know the local NCT branch has quite a different "flavour".

I made lasting mum friendships (still friends 7 years later), through La Leche League (LLL) and Sling Meet.

This time around I will be doing the NHS antenatal sessions; and spending my money on pregnancy yoga classes run by a local doula.

I'll also be going to LLL meetings to meet more like-minded mums. I thoroughly recommend LLL meetings - you can go when you're still pregnant and it is WONDERFUL to chat to so many experienced breastfeeding mums and get to see some real life breastfeeding before you unleash your own milk-making super powers !

I was 21 and a student when I did the NCT classes, so it cost me £26

I loved mine and it was a lifesaver, more from the social side admittedly, but I did get a lot out of the lessons. Out of the six, I still see three very regularly and would classify them as some of my very best friends. The NHS classes were very big and I made very few friends there and the ones I did make who I saw for a few months but not much afterwards. Having said that, NCT is pricey and I am sure that if you work at finding friends in other places you will definitely find them. I am sure if I put more effort into the NHS class I would have got more out of it.

Im a nursery nurse / nanny and have done weaning / potty training etc etc for 10 years.

BUT I found my NCT classes invaluable.... i learnt lots and lots (which being a nursery nurse does not teach you) and IMO it was money well spent.

(weaning / potty training are not a part of or relevant to NCT classes)

DD is now 6m and one of the best parts is the circle of local mummy friends who i have made... we have all met up every week since our babies were born, and it really has kept me sane. (spent this afternoon with them )

I have also found looking after a newborn very challenging, and i most definitely did not know it all..... i was however already good at changing dirty nappies withiut getting everything covered in poo, could handle a baby confidently in a bath, and could get out the house in just a few mins, with my bag always packed, so being a nanny does have massive advantages, just not necessarily in those earliest weeks.

I've just 'finished' my NCT classes and thoroughly enjoyed them and found them very helpful. Met some lovely couples and I decided to do it purely for the social side as I don't have any mum friends that live within an hour's commute of me. We also did a yoga birthing workshop day, and an NHS active birthing workshop plus the NHS 3 birth prep classes. Information has overlapped on NHS and NCT courses but it has been great to have it re-iterated. There was no intention of anyone in the other courses staying in touch IME.

I've found the ladies I've met on the NCT class to be similar to me and typical of sort of people I expected to be living around this area and many working in similar industries, which has been nice.

I imagine without having done the NCT course, I personally would have felt a little lost and unsupported. As many groups as there are around it's been really lovely getting to know people who are likeminded and going through the same thing. That being said I'm sure it's always luck of the drawer and sometimes you'll end up in a class with girls that you just don't feel a connection with. Worth a shot I say.

As others have said, NCT is worth it for the support network - even if you don't end up best of friends, it's good to know people going through the same thing as you.

That said, I did end up making lots of friends at baby groups as well.

I think the NHS classes vary from area to area. mine was one 2 hour session - not really long enough to get to the stage of swapping phone numbers!

I did NCT and made a lovely group of friends, it connected me to my local area in a way I hadn't been before. Whilst I'd read extensively about labour and birth while pg, I learned a lot from talking through the material and crucially, DH learned a lot too as partners were encouraged to engage. It led to us having lots of conversations about the content of the sessions and teased out from him his feelings/concerns/worries which I'm not sure we'd have discussed without the prompt from our lovely teacher.

BUT as others say you don't always have that experience - I also have a friend who did the class the month before mine in the same area with the same teacher who's group did not gel at all. She was also a bit miffed that the classes didn't prepare her for her EMCS and felt rather let down by it all (whilst I remember a session dedicated to interventions, I didn't have any so can't vouch for how effective it was).

If you think NCT might not be for you, don't fear. NCT isn't the be-all-and-end-all. I realised pretty early on after DS arrived I'd go mental if I didn't get out of the house. I've made other friends through throwing myself into various local groups (eg PN exercise, signing, massage etc) and brightly calling "Coffee?" at the end of each session. I felt a bit like head girl the first few times I did it but in the early days with a newborn I think lots of people are looking out to try to make friends and talk about their experiences and others might just need that little nudge to socialise. It also doesn't always work so I try not to be discouraged.

I can't imagine being off with my baby at the moment without the girls I've met from my NCT group. I couldn't say whether we'll be friends for life but we meet up as a group every fortnight and there is one girl who lives nearby and we go to groups together, and as someone who isn't very happy being on her own all day every day knowing these girls has been a lifesaver. However, I am also meeting people through NHS post-natal classes and have made a few friends online too, so there are chances to meet people other than through NCT.

Our course covered mostly labour and birth choices rather than anything to do with baby care, so if you have any questions about that then it could be worth it.

Our NCT classes were very detailed and covered a vast range of subject matter. We looked at hospital births, inductions, pain relief, ELCS, EMCS, had a birth pool brought in to sit in, looked at all the birth positions etc. We also talked about perineal massage, how relationships could be affected by having a baby, how to bath and change a newborn baby, practised relaxation and visualisation techniques, and more that I have probably forgotten. We had a really good BF session with an NCT BF counsellor. The men were very involved in everything too - most of them hadn't ever picked up a book about pg, labour, or BF, so it was a steep learning curve! We were also asked early on in the course to suggest any subject areas we wanted covered, so that no-one went away with unanswered questions. I would have been utterly hopeless in my EMCS with DD1, had I not been prepared in the classes (OK, the role play we did had me burst into tears and run out of the room, but it alerted me to the fact I needed to do some serious work before the EDD!)

We gelled really well as a group (5 couples), and are all still friends 5 years later, on our 2nd and 3rd DC. I think we are all socially quite similar, in terms of our backgrounds and aspirations, so that probably helped us get on, and was just a matter of luck. I see all the other mums regularly, and the dads also meet up. It is really good to have the support network there.

The NHS classes here were 2 hours, and just not detailed enough because of the time constraints. It was too short for the social side to happen either, even though the other 2 couples seemed nice.

I've also made good friends at baby groups (as dizzy said, suggesting going for a coffee moves things along nicely), so if I hadn't done the classes I would not have been friendless, but I wouldn't have been so prepared for parenthood and the whole birth experience as I was.

Our teacher was lovely and committed, the sort that is doing the job out of a genuine desire to help people, and was also very good at what she did. We employed her as a Doula when we had DD2, an she was fantastic then too.

Thanks everyone for the advice, it seems it really is a bit of a gamble, I might ask some of the mums whose children I care for if they have had good experiences with local teachers. I had totally forgotten aboutstuff like baby massage classes, singing classes etc, my brain forgets it wont be like work and I wont have toddlers around!

The thing is with my local area, I was really fortunate to be able to buy a house in an otherwise quite expensive area. I think a lot of the mums would be a bit older than me, at 28 I think I'd be considered quite young, but then again I am a bit of an over thinker so in reality it might not be the case at all. Hmmm, bugger. I think I might pay it incase I miss out on a fab opportunity and then I'll just chalk it up if it doesn't work out!

shouldI don't worry about the age thing. Our friendship group of mums ranges from about 30 to 45 (we've known each other for a good few years, so were obv younger at the start). We all get along really well - we don't split in to older/younger iyswim, and tbh we didn't even know everyone's ages at the start (very shocked to find one of my friends is now 41 - she looks about 31!). TBH, I've generally seen all ages of mums mix really well at the whole range of groups I've been to over the last 5 years.

I do look very young for my age, maybe I should get an age badge!

shouldIbecrossaboutthis,
NCT classes are about childbirth and there is next to nothing about how to look after the baby. They tell you about good birthing positions and how to minimise the risk of intervention. My classes were good, but I didn't make any real friends through the classes. The other mothers were all at least 10 years older than me.

For breastfeeding I suggest you go to a La Leche League meeting. Its free so you have nothing to lose but your time. Its also worth seeing what your local children's centre has to offer.

If anyone is thinking of paying to do these purely for the networking side of it, I'd urge you to look on Netmums as they have a thriving local meetups/community board for pretty much every area (I overlap 2 areas, you can join upto 5 so do check).

There's also La Leche League and you'll also meet other mums at baby groups, weighing clinics etc.

Don't spend nigh on £250 just to meet people!

And check out the NCT website for information, there's bucket and bucket loads and it's free to access.

I did nct classes first time round and enjoyed them
nut

I'm 13 weeks and not going to do NCT classes. I have a lot of pregnant friends so I don't think I'll feel lonely while I'm on mat leave and my friend who had a baby in my area a few years ago (and knew no pregnant women locally at the time) said there were enough mother and baby groups to go to a different one every day, which sounds a nice way of meeting people too).

However, if it wasn't for the above I would probably do the NCT classes, as isolation and not beign able to chat through any stressful things with like minded folk when the baby is tiny would definitely be worries of mine. In terms of actual info provided, I'm expecting the NHS classes and a couple of books (plus the advice of my mum, MIL and mummy friends) to be enough.

I gather from most people I know that breatsfeeding info before you give birth isn't much help (knitted breasts with crochet nipples don't sound a useful learning aid to me!) ; it's support once you're actually doing it that counts.

Although i get the impression it totally depends on the class and the person running it, I have just finished the NCT course and found it really helpful and informative, as well as non-judgmental. We had a nice group of people in ours too which probably helped.