to think NCT antenatal courses are pretty much a load of crap???!

[Gateau]

What a waste of money. Yes, you meet some good friends from it, but IMO that's one of the only positives.
They draw over about six weeks what could be said in one or two classes. All the members of our course said that.
The course is almost all about the woman's 'birth experience' which I found just makes women obsess about the birth itself. So many women I knew were "disappointed" with the birth, when surely it's not all about teh birth, but more about the wonderful reward you get at the end?And they barely touch on having a C-section - which is what I had.
And there's all this rubbish about "challenging" the medical staff when they suggest you have a C-section- with what energy, after 14 hours in labour? And when they say either have a c-section or risk endangering you and the baby, what choice is there?
our NCT teacher asked me to do a talk to her new group post-baby - or rather I was the only one who said I would. She very much disliked that fact that I was telling them I bottle-fed (because we are breaking the breastfeeding law, of course)and that I DIDN'T advocate sitting around the house in pjs after the baby was born - it doesn't suit everyone's state of mind. The NCT IMO is dogmatic.
I think the NCT course would be much more productive if it focused a little more on the early parenting side of things - that's where me and most of my NCT friends could have done with the advice!!

Our NHS class was tiny!! There were 5 of us and my DH was the only partner there, but he did learn enough and was included in the class which I thought was considerate.

Well I obviously didn't read up sufficiently because I didn't realise I was paying good money to the breastfeeding mafia!!!

i would recommend for next time, looking at local doulas, many do childbirth classes and one to one birth prep, and are far more individual and personal and you can ask about bottle feeding , c section etc to your hearts content.

YANBU

I think the moral hierarchy of birth experiences peddled by the NCT is quite wicked

I must have had a very good class based on the early posts... We did cover all aspects of different types of birth - from water to completely managed. I wanted as naturual as possible - preferably water - but it didn't go that way. However, BECAUSE of the NCT class, I felt that I at least knew what was happening, and was able to make informed decisions - and, yes, this after 18 hours of labour. And of the six of us that did the bf session, we went for perhaps 2 possitive to bf 2 unsure and 2 thinking of bottles to 6 willing to give it a go, of which only 1 was unable - and she got lots of support, but it just wasn't to be.

Yes, we didn't cover much of the post-natal stuff - but if I'd wanted to do that I would have done a course then.

I thought it was well worth the money.

I only did the NHS ones, and the only thing I regretted about not doing NCT ones was that I didn't make any friends in the class, and didn't get invited to the post natal class!!!!

I was 24 when I had ds1, and the rest of the class were either 30+ or 16- so the teenagers thought I was aged and the ladies thought I was a kid...and it wasn't helped in the first class by my turning up half an hour late (got the time wrong) and then fainting 20 mins later due to the heat. They definitely had me down as 'nutter'....

But lots of my friends still meet with their NCT groups, which I think they really enjoy, and that's something I just never had.

mummydoit Although making a bottle is relatively easy there are issues with storage, reheating and sterilising that some people may not understand or appreciate, it doesnt come easily to everyone. I also think the major issue is the pressure from these classes to breastfeed, as a pg woman or new mother your hormones are running wild and your primary focus is what is best for your child. If you cant bf for whatever reason it can make you feel extremely guilty if you (for want of a better phrase) give up. I think there should be more support for bottle feeding mothers as well.

please don;t start with breastfeeding mafia!!! NCT has an ethos and it is pro breastfeeding.

so the women who teach the classes are pro breastfeeding..

and we got loads of opportunities to chat to one another during the class and afterwards. Infact, I'm still in touch to this day with 3 of the mums from the class. We meet up when we can, and it's great to have went on this amazing journey of pregnancy, talking of our birth experiences (some of it good, some bad unforunately) and also watch our babies grow up together.

tortoiseSHELL that's ashame, I've made really good friends after going to NHS classes. we are still in touch today. 18 months later..

I'm not starting with breastfeeding mafia - it's synonymous with the NCT.

Actually, Iliketomoveitmoveit the NCT website describes their ethos as the following:

"We work to fulfil our mission and vision of enabling all parents in the UK to have an enriching experience of pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. Our purpose is to provide support and evidence-based information in pregnancy, birth and early days of parenthood. We want all parents to feel confident about their maternity care. We campaign to improve the services and facilities for new parents, and provide essential services and information to give them a chance to make informed choices."

It doesn't say anything about their preference for natural birth or breastfeeding. It's not like the market is saturated with ante-natal course - for most people it is either NCT or NHS, so it's a bit unfair to say you shouldn't go to NCT classes unless your prepared to have natural birth rammed down your throat.

Well - you just lost any sympathy I had with your breastfeeding mafia post.

I'm invoking Godwin's Law (as "Mafias" is pretty much the same as Breastfeeding Nazi).

I just don't see the point of paying money for classes that are offered on the NHS for free. They may vary in content but you are getting similar info, despite NCT seeming to pay more attention on BFing (but at the end of the day not everyone can BF, some have to FF and that's how it goes).

So you paid £100+ for something you knew nothing about????? Well I think that says it all.

I also found my NCT antenatal classes very negative.

The teacher basically said that if we didn't have home births then it would all go horribly wrong and it would all be our own faults.

She did this without bothering to check if there were any reasons why it might not be appropriate for us to have home births!!

The class on breastfeeding also just said - its really easy,just get hte latch right.

I struggled really badly with breastfeeding at first, and some straightforward advice about what problems could occure and how to try and deal with them would have been very helpful.

IN otherwords, dreadful classes, but at least I met some other pregnant women

if you knew it was synonymous with breastfeeding, why are you surprised?

i would feed all this back to head office and explain your teacher did not acknowledge your feedback

and as i posted, if you have another baby, look at local doulas for childbirth preparation

Who asked for SYMPATHY?

I don't think Mafia can be accepted as a demonstration of Godwin's Law TBH

Oh yeah, we got the homebirth hard sell too. Someone in our class pointed out that it wouldn't be possible for her to give birth at home but she was very interested in m/w led units and would like to know more about them. The teacher just looked blank, said she didn't know where the nearest one was and went back to banging on about home birth.

For people who have done the course it is synonymous with the b/f mafia.

The NCT is a PARENTING CHARITY that runs ANTENATAL CLASSES

The fact that it advocates what many people think is outdated advice is hardly going to be common knowledge among pregnant women FFS! They don't even know the first thing about pethidine; they are unlikely to have studied the varying political tides of the last 40 years of the childbirthing movement.

Our area does not do nhs classes anymore even for first time mothers.
I think this is criminal.

I did the nct classes and I enjoyed them. However all the mother mums were about ten yeas older than me. We were living in a 2 bedroom flat where as all the other mums lived in masssive houses. I felt a little bit out of the group when they discussed which private schools they were putting their little bump down for.

I agree that they were a bit academic. The teacher was very nice though. My son came early and waterbirths, fancy lights and music were not an option. I was a wuss and had an epidural after 28 hours in labour.

In fact my son came to the last nct class. (We thought we might as well get our money's worth! heh! heh!) It made a bit of a mess of the teacher's lesson plan.

I think I find the NCT as a whole a rip off. Went to nearly new sale a few months ago, paid £2 to get in and it hardly had anything worth buying. Waste of money.

I was a wuss and had an epidural after 28 hours in labour.

You weren't a WUSS

that is exactly what the NCT makes you feel about yourself