NCT not local...worth attending?

[futuremrsconnor85]

Hi all,

First time poster here! (Occasional replier)

I'm in my third trimester of pregnancy. NCT classes were highly recommended to me and they are something I'd like to do. However, we live 15 and 20 miles away from the two closest courses. My partner and I were wanting to go more for the information than to make new friends-although we are open to that of course. We have recently moved back to our hometown from the city and feel we already have a decent support network (he has a big close family and we both have local (parent) friends).

I contacted the course leader who advised me to think carefully about whether I'd be prepared to travel the distance with a newborn to see the people we may make friends with on the course. My answer is 'probably not'. As we won't really be able to meet up with the other couples after the course, is NCT worth attending? The NHS classes sound ok so I'm trying to weigh up pro's and cons.

Many thanks.
:)

[cinnamonwoman]

Nct is good for making a group of friends, I really valued it with my first and still see some women I met from the group.
I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know from reading books/parenting websites.

In your situation I wouldn't do it. Look out for local baby groups when your baby is born instead!

[BikeRunSki]

If it’s your closest one, check and see if there are other people from your area signed up.

By your third trimester, you may be too late for classes now anyway.

I did NCT and NHS classes. Counter intuitively, the NCT classes preparer best for the emcs I ended up with , and the nhs was fab for breathing and hypno Stuff.

I made lifelong local friends at the local village hall baby group and Surestart Centre (when we had one).

My NCT group were fairly spread out (rural) but there was a cluster in one village. They bonded very as they had s much more “popping round”, bumping into each other in the park type relationship.

[mindutopia]

I think definitely do it. We did our NCT classes with a teacher who was about 50 minutes away, so everyone in the class lived about 45-60 minutes from us. It was definitely worth it.

I met more local mums later on who lived closer to me, but to have people who were literally going through the exact same thing at the same time was invaluable. When you're on mat leave with a small baby, you have oodles of time and driving 50 minutes to meet for lunch a few times a month honestly isn't a big deal. We also often met in the middle, so it wasn't quite such a haul for me. In between, having other mums just to text and chat with on Facebook really helped. My daughter is school age now and we still keep in touch. We only see each other a few times a year now as it's harder to arrange when we're all back at work or busy with other things, but honestly, it's no more difficult than with local friends who frankly I see probably about as often now that are schedules are all so different. I made some really good friends through that class though and the distance wasn't a big deal in the end.

I found the NHS classes fairly useless in terms of information and I met absolutely no one at them. Local baby classes (baby massage or stay and play) or groups (breastfeeding groups, sling meets, stay and play, etc.) were great when my dd was older, but in those first weeks when I could barely leave the house, having people I had already connected with and could just text or Facebook message was a lifesaver.

[FindTheLightSwitchDarren]

I probably wouldn't do it if it wasn't local tbh.

I did nct and made a really lovely group of friends and then moved away. We still see each other, but very rarely. I don't think, if we'd always lived so far apart, we'd really have made a lasting friendship.

Only you can decide though, if you think will be arsed to make the journey to see nct friends after your baby arrives.

[2014newme]

Nhs classes were good I'm still friends 10 years on with the people I met. The post natal classes run by health visitors were also good for meeting people.
Our NHS classes were run by the midwives that were going to be delivering our babies. NCT classes the leader may have never attended a birth other than their own dcs. They are well meaning amateurs. But if you're going to meet people that's fine.

[Alexandra07]

I just finished the nct course. I don't think it was worth the money. Very few bits I didn't know already from my online research. I wouldn't bother with them if I were you. I did them hoping to meet couples living close to me.

[Oysterbabe]

I think the main benefit is meeting people you can hang out with on maternity leave. We did lots of impromptu coffees and walks. It wouldn't have been worth it for me if the people didn't live close.

[futuremrsconnor85]

Thank you for all your replies. I've decided not to attend but will definitely keep an eye out for post natal courses which are more local.