Were your Ante natal classes any good?

[HarrietHairbrush]

Just that really. What did they teach you and what did the leave out? Did you feel ready or scared?
Had a convo with a friend today and our experiences were so different - interested to hear other people’s thoughts

for learning: yes, absolutely

to make friends: unfortunately no

I went to 1 class when I was pregnant with my eldest and never went back.

I was the youngest by atleast 10 years and had a few too many patronising glances/comments.

Yes, because we met our best friends there!

@HavelockVetinari

Yes, because we met our best friends there!

awww, that's lovely!

I did nct during last year's lockdown and wish i had not bothered and saved myself £200! Did not make friends at all as its so awkward over zoom and not being face to face, (also by some freak twist of fate ,one of the women was an ex friend and we were shocked to see each other! We pretended to not know each other but honestly my anxiety that day was not healthy for my unborn baby).
Secondly all the things you learn are partially commonsense, or things that you would google anyway when you actually have your baby. It all falls out of your head when you are actually in the trenches with a newborn!

Ours was a one off session at the hospital. Learnt a fair bit about what happens in labour, and current rules about safety, sleeping on back etc. No-one really spoke to anyone else - only two of us didn't have a partner with us, the other lady felt she needed to explain that she wasn't a single mum, so I thought sod it, let them believe what they want about me. (My partner had forgotten about it and booked meetings at work). It was helpful in a practical sense, had a look round some of the labour wards, but socially it was a bit of a dead duck.

I did NCT, it was brilliant. Met good people that carried me through the first year and DH learnt a lot (I didn’t learn much as had read tons).

I was fixated on ELCS but the classes gave me the confidence to go for vaginal delivery (which was a good decision).
But the friends were the main benefit. Our Whatsapp at all hours and weekly meetings were a godsend.

Yes I think the promise of friends is a big thing often. I agree that there’s lots you read and Google but it’s nice to have someone teach it to you

Yes, free classes run by Health Visitors at the GP surgery. Very reassuring and educational. They strong-armed us into meeting up as a group once we’d had our babies and that actually stuck as a regular weekly meet up for a couple of years which was brilliant.

The leader wore the same jumper for 6 weeks. That's all I can remember. I went back 18 months later for baby 2 and she still had the same jumper on.

The info was handy definitely. I was hoping it would also lead to friends, we all got on well enough and had a whatsapp group. We had 3 meet ups post babies the odd chat which tailed off and that was that.

A mum friend I did make later on still meets up with her antenatal mums group so I probably just got unlucky, either that or they all grouped off without me 😆

Dreadful. Was 20 years ago tho so hopefully things have changed
She - nhs person. spent two hours going through the procedure of giving birth in minute detail
Was patronising and the type of talk you’d give to teenagers to put them off! Most people there looked like late twenties /early thirties reasonably well educated professionals
Then she got the birth partners / husbands to play a game - a kind of a baby/birth/ pregnancy type pairs game on the floor
My ( now ex) husband was furious and refused to go back after the second session - she went over the birth procedure again

Awful.

Even the nct wasn’t great