Should I join the NCT or just do the classes?

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi all,

We have decided to do the NCT antenatal course in our local area and have secured a place. The booking form and information have now come through and they have said that if we do not want to join them we can simply take £39 off the total cost of the course. The thing is I can't seem to work out what you actually get for joining other than getting into their nearly new sales a little earlier than others. Do you have to be a member to go to all the breastfeeding/coffee morning type things they put on?

Can someone advise me if it is worth joining or if I am better of simply doing the course itself?

Thanks

[helyg]

I was a member for about 7 years, starting when I was pregnant with my first up until when my 3rd was about 3.

You get magazines every so often, and you can get involved with their campaigns etc. You can also get involved with your local branch, ie the coffee mornings etc.

I enjoyed being a member.

[NoTeaForMe]

So can you not go to the coffee mornings and baby groups they have unless you are a member?

[greensnail]

I suspect it depends on your branch. I'm not a member and didn't go to classes, but have been to their coffee mornings, helped out at sales etc.

[knackered76]

I went to the classes and didn't join. Made a great group of friends, still all in weekly contact 5 years on, and occasionally went to the things they organised which you didn't have to be a member for. In theory they can't exclude you from things such as bumps and bundles for not being a member as they are a charity providing support for mums. Usually a small donation is requested, such as £1. If you want to be active in the NCT then join, if not then I wouldn't worry about it!

[TheHouseofMirth]

NoteaForMe it's not about what you get, its more about giving something back. Apart from running ante natal classes, coffee mornings and playgroups etc the NCT is a campaigning organisation and needs membership fees to support its work. I know the NCT often gets a bad press on here for being middle class and sometimes some women have considered it judgmental about their perceived failure to have "natural" childbirth but without all the work it's done we'd all still be giving birth with our feet in stirups and our hubands pacing the corridor.

[tigersmummy]

I went to classes and joined for first year of DS's life. Enjoyed reading magazine and met a very close friend in the area, who didn't go to classes but did join, so wouldn't have that friendship without it!
For me though it was about giving something to a very worthwhile charity without whom we wouldn't have so many things we take for granted, ie. our husbands and partners in with us. But I didn't have to join to go to the coffee mornings so very much personal choice.

[Meglet]

If you do go to the sales and get in early with membership you will more than save the £39 you spent on it. Our sales are excellent and I save a fortune stocking up when I'm there.

Never did coffee mornings but 3.5 yrs since the classes I still meet the mums, and our expanding tribe of dc's, every week.

[noodleysoup]

I will be starting NCT classes in a couple of months and also paid the extra to become a member. I've only been a member for a few months and haven't really seen any benefits from it, I have had a couple of newsletters which weren't particularly good and there doesn't seem to be much going on locally. There is only 1 nearly new sale a year where I am and I have already missed it. Maybe very branch dependent though. At the moment I'm seeing my membership fee more as a charity donation (and I'm happy to support them), but I like to think I will get more out of it once I start maternity leave / the baby arrives. Haven't been able to try the coffee mornings as I'm still working a the moment.

[IMoveTheStars]

if you intend to go to the nearly new sales, then the NCT membership can really be worth it as you get it early (at least in our area). I didn't bother with membership after the first year though.

The classes really were excellent though.

[snickersnack]

Very branch dependent. Our branch runs lots of postnatal stuff - coffee mornings and bumps and babes groups - which are open to members and non members. The magazine is great, and goes to all members. We have quite an active social calendar as well, and information evenings about various different things - first aid, childcare, nutrition, weaning etc. - which you only know about if you are a member. They are all free as well.

But the membership fee is mostly to support central activities as the vast majority of it goes to HQ. To fund breastfeeding helplines, campaigning, information, subsidised places on classes for those on low incomes.