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Original poster

Is NCT worth doing?

34 replies

Butterflyflower1234 · 29/11/2019 15:46

Hi all

I'm pretty new to this all, TTC early next year and friends I know who have babies talk about their NCT group. I don't really know what it is? Is it just antenatal classes?

Have you been to NTC and was it worthwhile? I think it's really cheap for the course so it seems on the surface like a good thing to do.

OP posts:
Whodoyoutrust · 29/11/2019 15:49

The content isn't great to be honest but I don't know anyone who went for the content! You are essentially paying for middle class friends with babies the same age as yours.

I'm still in touch with most of my nct group (DC1 is very nearly 4), they were invaluable in the first few months.

DelurkingAJ · 29/11/2019 15:52

I thought it was for two key reasons:

  • nice group to hang out with on maternity leave (although we’ve long since stopped meeting up); and
  • the breastfeeding meeting where they taught DH how which meant he could help and coach me. I think the exact line was ‘the ladies are fully focused on having the baby so if we only show you then you may not remember’.
Original poster
Butterflyflower1234 · 29/11/2019 15:54

Why is it middle class people? A few people have said that to me and I just found it odd. The course near me is only £250 so that's so cheap so doesn't seem to exclude people due to affordability.

OP posts:

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Families
stucknoue · 29/11/2019 15:55

They are led by a huge number of different people thus vary dramatically, and a lot depends on who else is in your group. Sometimes you make friends for life and have a great course leader, other times people complain it's just a waste of money. I didn't, sil did and loved it

stucknoue · 29/11/2019 15:55

£250 is a lot of money!

HermioneKipper · 29/11/2019 15:57

Yes I’d say well worthwhile. My daughter is 3 and we still all meet up regularly. Was a godsend during Mat leave and they’ve all become really good friends

Practicalmagico · 29/11/2019 15:58

You are essentially paying for middle class friends with babies the same age as yours

Haha! So true. It’s a very middle class thing to do

addictedtotheflats · 29/11/2019 15:59

Content wasnt anything I wasnt aware of but it definitely benefited DP. My group definitely aren't middle class and we meet up every few weeks as a group and more frequently 3 or 4 of us out of the 6. I wouldnt say we are all the best of friends but i made one amazing friend from it and we have supported each other massively and talk everyday on whatsapp and meet up at least 2 times a week on our own or with other mums from outside nct. So for that reason I would 100% recommend it

Practicalmagico · 29/11/2019 16:00

The course near me is only £250 so that's so cheap so doesn't seem to exclude people due to affordability
Shock
Considering you think £250 is cheap, I say you’ll fit in just fine

AfternoonTea12 · 29/11/2019 16:01

In my opinion it is totally worth it! My husband and I have found the support from the other couples who attended our course invaluable!

Original poster
Butterflyflower1234 · 29/11/2019 16:03

Oh gosh I can't believe the comments regarding £250. Everything is relative I guess.

Thanks for the info. I think it seems like a good idea.

OP posts:
sallysparrow157 · 29/11/2019 16:04

I didn’t find the course particularly helpful but the WhatsApp group we set up with everyone who was in the course has been a godsend. We all had our babies within a month of each other - if it’s 3am and you’re having an absolute nightmare and post a message on the group chat there’s almost certainly someone else up too probably having exactly the same nightmare or went through it last week and either has a solution or tells you it’s nothing you’re doing wrong and will get better. We’ve met up a few times too and it’s been a reason to organise ourselves and get out of the house with no pressure because the people you’re meeting are in the same boat as you. It is very middle class as £250 isn’t cheap when there are probably free antenatal classes run by your local midwifery team and you’re about to go on mat leave.
Have a look on the NTC website too as there may be nearly new sales near to you - definitely worth going to, we got some brand new outfits still with tags on for 50p and a sling for £20

Banana770 · 29/11/2019 16:06

NCT is worth doing, yes. Also £250 is quite a lot of money to the majority of the country!!!

sallysparrow157 · 29/11/2019 16:07

I think it’s not so much that £250 is a huge amount of money, but it’s a lot when it’s for something non essential when you’re about to go on mat leave so have less money coming in for the next few months whilst also having to buy prams and cots and car seats and what have you!

EssentialHummus · 29/11/2019 16:10

Thinking pragmatically, I would say it's important/useful to do something that gives you contact with a group of women pregnant at the same time as you, for all the reasons PP mention.

I did NCT. I also did pregnancy yoga locally (more locally than the NCT group). Two years on the NCT WhatsApp group is dead, I still see the yoga mums at least weekly and my closest friend is a woman who lives on the next street over, that I met at rhyme time.

Basically, find something that allows you to meet people at the same stage as you. I personally found NCT poor content wise so I can't recommend it for that.

PotteryWheel · 29/11/2019 16:13

The content isn't great to be honest but I don't know anyone who went for the content! You are essentially paying for middle class friends with babies the same age as yours.

That is pretty much exactly it. The content is easily available via any decent birth and baby book or the free NHS classes, you're paying for middle-class mum friends. I had no idea this was a thing did almost all my antenatal care in another country but my midwife, who clearly, looking back, thought I was going to be very isolated, almost commanded me to do it, so I did.

And as (1) our teacher was a self-righteous hippy with an obsession with avoiding the Cascade of Intervention and (2) our group just didn't particularly like one another and drifted apart almost immediately, it was a real waste of cash.

On the other hand, other people make lifelong friends from theirs. Though I also know of one via a friend where longterm friendships were made, lasted through the arrival of subsequent children (the original babies are now 18 or so) and eventually broke up when several members started having affairs with one another's spouses and breaking up and having a new set of babies with the new partners. Grin

MsSquiz · 29/11/2019 16:14

We are currently in the middle of a 6 week ante natal course (not NCT) which is a group of 10 couples all due between mid December to end of January and that class is £120 per couple, ran by a lady who has 15 years midwifery experience.

We chose it based on recommendations from a family member and a friend of my SIL. It's a lovely group, good mix of people. And while we may not be best friends forever, it will be handy to have others in the same situation in a WhatsApp group when we are up at stupid o'clock!

GrumpyHoonMain · 29/11/2019 16:14

Yes totally worth it if you are a first time parent (and will be even more worth it for your DP). They have more than just classes - they do socials, second hand sales, and have partners like GAP / Seraphine etc that will provide freebies and discounts.

How ‘middle class’ it is depends on where you live. If you’re in an area without NHS classes then you will tend to get younger working class people in them - often those who have been given the classes as a gift.

If you’re an older mum like me just do your research about what’s available locally first — in my case NCT was ideal as it contained a mix of people of different ages, but for friends living in another town, Daisy Foundation was better at building relationships with other older parents. Either way NCT is often the only option for socialising afterwards (their bumps to babies coffee mornings for example) so you will eventually meet lots of people.

90schic · 29/11/2019 16:15

NCT is great. You make mum friends to support you when you have your LO! It’s a life saver. I didn’t understand the value of it until after baby. Content is okay but mainly focused on birth. Helped my DP know how to support me in labour Too! He was great and I put it down to NCT.

I would deffo go OP.

BeyondMyWits · 29/11/2019 16:18

£250 is a whole week's wages to me. We did an NHS class.

Original poster
Butterflyflower1234 · 29/11/2019 16:19

It certainly sounds like a good idea for me. I'll be a new Mum but my DH has children but I think it'll be nice having a support network together.

Sorry if the comment about £250 not being a lot offended people. I am in a lucky position to have the ability to have full pay maternity for six months so I should be in a similar position to now.

OP posts:
Chickenitalia · 29/11/2019 16:21

The content was patronising and the leader a virtuous hippy type who demonised any medical intervention and was the main reason for my slide into PND with a refluxy baby, and very little care beyond comments about disappointed I must be over not bf and an instrumental delivery. It was not money well spent. Also not terribly local so the other families, while very nice, weren’t easy to catch up with.

If you can afford it, and there is a course very close to you, by all means go ahead. I know people who had very different experiences and have made great friends there. But you do need to live near each other I think, your world shrinks a lot once a newborn is in the mix.
I also think £250 is a lot of money for something non essential.

InDubiousBattle · 29/11/2019 16:22

Only £250 so that's so cheap
You've got Nct written all over you op!

I didn't do nct but I met several members of a group and became friends with the group through them. They're a nice bunch and still meet up every now and then (kids now 6). All of the information can be found on line for free so you really are paying for the middle class friends.

iamNOTmagic · 29/11/2019 16:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mistydayswampwitch · 29/11/2019 16:24

'The course near me is only £250 so that's so cheap so doesn't seem to exclude people due to affordability.'

Hahaha that's the most middle class statement ever!