Whether to bother with NCT?

[Plumbridge]

As a new member of mumsnet I was wondering if anyone had any view on whether I should bother joining an NCT class at all? I'm 35 weeks with my third and have never seemed to have got around to joining before! Is it worth it this time?

Good luck - hope you meet some lovely mums and make some new friends

So, are you back from lunch yet, steppy?

I found that Bumps and Babies/NCT coffee mornings was a better way to get to know other mothers with babies because they take place at people's homes and tend to be a bit more intimate than a toddler group at a church hall. Plus, when you've got a non-crawling baby, everyone gets to sit in one spot for the whole 2 hours and actually have a fluid conversation with the other mothers.

Steppy, come on, we're all on tenderhooks. You can't say you have some dirt to dish and then now dish it

I mean "not" dish it!

Oh go on Steppy... or give us a clue, at least!

TBH I'm not surprised there are political battles within an organisation like the NCT. I find the coffee mornings really useful and have met some lovely people through them, but the antenatal classes annoyed me as there was a huge bias towards everything "natural" being better. We all felt pressure not to have epidurals, and I bet this is something that NCT HQ have strong views on.

Katybee - am on local commitee, and now scared of myself - anyhow, must go and knit some lentil washable nappies....

Streppy - gossip now!

what a bloody busy day...SORRY !!!!!

Gossip.....All to do with the pay apparently...big discrepancies with various teachers earning hugely varying amounts.....some teachers operating in what they call teachers groups..head office taking over the antenatal teaching pay ...some experienced teachers talking of walking...... Interesting really because none of the teachers are actually employed....all operate on a self employed basis....

I did the NCT ante natal classes and made a good group of friends. Over 5 years later we all still meet up regularly, and now the younger ones come along too. The kids all tend to get along together really well.
Think our teacher would probably have thrown us out of the NCT if she had a chance. From a group of 7, 5 had c-sections, 1 had an epidural, and 1 had a ventouse delivery! Not much home-birth, breathing through the pain there then!

Have never entered the world of 'the commitee' though.

I WAS a commmittee member but got fed up with the politics ...actually had a very in depth discussion with the chair /ceo of the NCT and "gave her my input" on what I thought...Real shame because, as many of you mention, they do some very good things....

I think most people agree that the NCT does really good things and provides a lifeline for many people but one of my many many gripes was that many things were not open to discussion. The breast v bottle which I mentioned in a previous post. I talked about this with the chair of our committee and said I thought it ultimately had to be the choice of the mother, then we had this long discussion with her saying how the mother should be encouraged, basically even though she would be sitting there saying she didn't want to do it! Ah, but she wouldn't have been given all the facts I was told - INFORMED CHOICE WITHOUT THE CHOICE BIT!!!!

I had a vision of someone who had never wanted to breastfeed being totally pressured into it and I do not agree with that!

The Nestle thing, well I'm sure we all agree with the facts there, but the superiority was coming from well to do women who shopped at Gap and drank lattes from Starbucks!

I read in our local newsletter a birthing story from someone who rubbished working mums (I'm actually a SAHM myself) calling them selfish, and saying that if you had pain relief during childbirth it would affect your baby's mental development!

Getting involved with the NCT saved me after bad postnatal depression, I joined before I had my DD because I wanted to do my bit towards funding change in this country and the membership money goes towards this beyond that wasnt involved.

Was stuck at home with a ill child, hadn't clicked with my postnatal class (probably because I was so badly depressed) and eventually volunteered to run the NNS as a way to get out meet people etc.. it was either that or go back to work full time.

I found a few people had there own agendas and a few where full on, but most where just mums that wanted to have fun, meet people and hopefully make a difference in there community and for future mums.

I stayed on committee for 3 years and had a great laugh, meetings down the pub, lots of support, made some great friends.

I think it is like most things, you find one or two people you really get on with, the rest you get on with ok and a few rub you up the wrong way, but I think that is true of most large groups of people.

I am definitely going to get more involved again after current bump is born, but I find meeting new people scary and prefer having a job to do...

My experience of the NCT is wholly positive but more for what i got out of the classes in way of friendships. I joined the antenatal course when pregnant with ds and although a little twee at times, the classes were very informative. We were given all round information about all aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. Although we had a whole class on breastfeeding (complete with knitted boobs!!!)I felt less pressured by the teacher there than I did by every midwife I met! I made 7 fantastic friends through the classes who i am still in very close contact with now (ds is 20 months). We meet every week and still support each other through the lows and celebrate each other's good times. Two of the ladies are about to have their second babies now so the next generation is beginning. OUr partners get on well too and we have had many days/nights out is girl or bloke groups and as couples.

I have just been enquiring about NCT antenatal classes and in Surrey they are priced at £200!

This is way too much for me as I was made redundant at the start of the year and am not entitled to any maternity pay or benefits whatsoever (I haven't worked through the duration of my pregnancy).
I explained this to the NCT lady and asked were there concessionary prices, I was told "No, we don't have a concessionary price. We are a charity and we have to meet costs. If you are on a low income, you can make a contribution of what you can afford, such as £150". Unfortunately £150 is still far out of my reach, as I have prioritise getting a pram, cot, car seat etc over anything else.

I would love to attend the classes to meet mothers in my area, and also to find out a bit more about what to expect about labour etc, but I don't think the NCT consider people on a low income as of value as members. I think this is a shame as I would have plenty of time to contribute, and despite my current financial situation I am still a well educated person with a managerial background.

The NCT says its mission is to ?to
make sure that our services, activities and membership are fully accessible to everyone.? By excluding all but the middle class from its antenatal classes it makes a mockery of its own stated aim.

£200 is a lot for many women, I think prices vary from area to area. Have you asked your hospital if they have any classes?

Something else to add, the NCT never really responded helpfully to being asked about antenatal classes, I think I asked at about 16 weeks and felt it must already be too late. Then I got info just before baby due about a postnatal course, or at least my dp did (!) It's £60 for 6 weeks (mentions concessions available) but I think that's affordable for more people, though everyone on the course seems at least as middle class or more so than me. I'm a council worker on a little under average national wage living on the wrong side of a London borough with a sharp east west divide, and everyone else on the course lives in the more posh area.

I wanted to breastfeed but have failed due to hospital pressures when the first week didn't go right, and I haven't been made to feel bad about that by anyone, just sad when others feed their babies, but that's not their fault!

I've now managed to get onto a local NHS class, there are 17 expectant mums plus some partners so its a large group, but I am very happy to be getting some sort of advance warning of whats going to happen during the labour.

I am surprised there are such huge variations in NCT class prices according to locality, there is a world of difference between £60 and £200. If the classes had been £60 I would have been able to manage that. I am still bamboozled that in order to get a price reduction here the policy is to haggle with some frosty Surrey Stepford Wife who is so far removed from the reality of being on benefits that she thinks that £150 is an affordable knock-down price. The fact that there is no concessionary pricing structure in place, just this cringe-worthy procedure, really is discriminatory in itself. However, I am resolved to let these social injustices wash over me as I don't want to expose the baby to any stress hormones!

Sorry about your breast-feeding situation, try not to let it upset you as its just one of those things, and there are plenty of healthy, happy bottle-fed babies out there.

Oh, PC, that's not a very helpful response, is it? £200 is a lot of money for a class!

There is actually a policy in place for how concessions should be offered ... depending on whether you're on benefits or low income or what.

The course booking process is being standardised, region by region ...

Although I have yet to attend a NCT antenatal class, I must admit my experience with them has been faultless.

When pregnant with DS in 2005, I booked the classes (can't remember how much they cost - possibly £160). Was living in SE London at the time. I went on to have DS at 7 months - before the antenatal classes started.

After he was born, I rang up and after a bit of negotiation - managed to get a full refund even though they normally would deduct an admin fee under these circumstances.

Even though I had opted not to pay an extra £40 to join the NCT, I was still given a call by the local 'new mums' rep who invited me along to any coffee mornings she held. Went along a few times - the women there were pretty middle class but very friendly and I didn't detect any snobbery. One black woman attended and as an asian woman with a northern accent myself, I never felt anything but fully included.

I didn't keep it up because I just didn't happen to 'click' with any of the women there. Ended up getting matey with the women I did baby massage classes with.

Now I am 4.5 months pregnant and have moved to Leeds. I got in touch with the local NCT group who sent me all the info I needed once I hit the 13 week mark. They charge £120 for an 8 week evening class of 5 couples. Not a bad price IMO.

Plus, for those on lower income, you can pay £20 or £60 at YOUR discretion. The decision is your's, not the administrator's.

I was very impressed.

I am yet to form an opinion on the classes but have no complaints about my dealings with them so far.

I have a feeling the running of local NCT groups does vary a huge amount across the country. Maybe they need to look at what certain groups do well and try to spread best practise across to other groups.

By the way - I ended up bottle feeding DS because him being premmie kind of messed up my attempts at breastfeeding. I didn't detect any disapproving looks but then maybe I am a bit thick-skinned.

I wouldn't let anyone make you feel bad about bottle feeding - for the amount of people who will disapprove of bottles, there is an equal amount of people who all but faint with shock when you are brazen enough to breastfeed in front of them.

You're damned if you do and damned if you don't!

I would definitely join the NCT. I did with my first and still friendly (actually best friends) with two mums I met thru it. You meet like-minded people from your area. And boy what a support!

I did the NCT antenatal classes mainly as a way to make new friends, but it has been a bit disappointing - you hear stories of people keeping in touch for years afterwards, but our group seemed to fizzle out as we didn't really have much in common, and I haven't seen any of them for ages. So don't bank on the social aspect of it.

But I did find the classes useful (even though my plans for an active labour/water birth went straight out of the window the minute I got in the delivery room!) Mind you, as it's your third, you must know it all anyway!

I didn't do NCT antenatal classes but went along to their coffee mornings. Didn't click with everyone but it got me out of the house one morning a week and I have made two or three lasting friends through it. What is really useful is that, once you go to one group, you hear about other mother and baby groups and activities. My advice is to try loads of different ones then narrow it down to the ones you feel happiest with.

Some NCT groups are undoubtedly cliquey but the same is true of any group. I personally didn't get on with our local MAMA group because I found them incredibly cliquey but it's still a great organisation and worth checking out in your area.

As a committee member of our branch of the NCT, I'm a bit dismayed to see so many negative comments here. Branches are all run by unpaid volunteers, all parents fitting it in during their spare time. Only antenatal and postnatal teachers get any payment so do cut us a bit of slack! However, if you are getting unhelpful or rude responses from NCT contacts (such as being told no concessions for antenatal classes), then take it to the branch chairperson or to Head Office. Most of our volunteers are very good but if there are bad ones, we need to know so we can take them out of the post and stop putting people off the NCT altogether!

I imagine the volunteers are whoever's willing or able to do it in most areas. I think the NCT has done an awful lot to improve maternity for many women, and I'd like particularly after my experiences to get more involved in that campaigning side of it. I think my postnatal course is great by the way and I'm glad I signed up to it.

Maybe I should look to get involved and ask if I can help match up email enquiries and courses, so that others in the borough can at least find out about what might be on. £200 is a lot of money to find for many people, but I could have managed it (if that was the price) and think I would have benefited.