NCT or Daisy Foundation?

[83cky]

Has anyone done the NCT or Daisy Foundation classes? Is one better than the other to meet other mums-to-be?

I did the Nct. If I were to choose again, I'd go for daisy.

I did the one day lazy daisy one in Durham and it was complete rubbish. I suspect that it was the woman who ran it who was the problem though, rather than the organisation itself.

Maybe they're all just a waste of time? I did hear rave reviews about hypnobirthing though.

Thanks both. I'm more interested in making friends in my area, then the actual content of the course to be honest. (My DH has a daughter already, so he's on-hand to help and guide me). Both courses seem like an expensive way to meet new people!

Did Daisy for both my dc as I found them very calming, though def wasn't the place to make friends.

I'm still friends with my NCT group 5 years later.

Tread carefully with Daisy and take it with a pinch of salt. I think the way they empower you to believe you can do it and that it doesn't have to be hell, is amazing. However often you do need an epidural/c-section/whatever, and the problem is not that you just didn't fucking visualise climbing your mountain enough

Stand out moment for me was teacher saying your body just wouldn't allow a baby to grow bigger than you could birth. I'm 5 foot and petite, ds2 was 10lb. So...yeah...

It depends what you're after. Daisy Foundation have different antenatal classes. One is a birthing class for mum's only which is a movement class with antenatal education and relaxation and the other is Daisy Parent antenatal classes for you and partner which covers everything about labour and birth as well as how to look after your baby and the practicalities of having a newborn. I did both NCT and daisy and found daisy much less judgmental and they gave you all the information - it wasn't all about doing things natural xx

I did NCT. It was great for the first baby but I didn't for the second #knewitall

And I did make some good friends through the nct

I've signed up for both, start Daisy next week (yoga classes). Heard good things about both.

We didn't have the Daisy classes in my area so did NCT. I found the NCT classes great for making friends - I'm currently on maternity leave and see at least some of the other mums from my class most weeks.

We had an inexperienced Daisy teacher. She was reading off a script and seemed quite uncertain about how to lead the group. It was full of women who’d had a difficult first birth and wanted to talk a LOT about that. I wouldn’t recommend it TBH. Have you thought about finding an experienced yoga teacher and going to a class dedicated to that? NCT useful for making friends but did not prepare me adequately for a child (and I say that as someone who had one of the easiest births in the group) Not sure if anything can ever properly prepare you though!

I don't think a yoga teacher would have experience/qualifications in antenatal/postnatal education..... ??? at least with NCT, Daisy Foundation or other similar antenatal classes they have had antenatal and postnatal training. I went to an NCT course for my first child and my teacher was very experienced and still had her notes with her. I wouldn't expect someone to remember every single detail of a 6 week course without some sort of notes/class plan?? If you're after yoga then yes go to a yoga teacher but if you are looking for specifically antenatal classes I would choose a qualified teacher and or NHS antenatal classes x

If you just want to make friends take a look on your local Facebook parent groups. Not all areas have it but if you have a children's centre they often do classes and it's a lot cheaper.
The best friends I made are from the mumsnet group I was on. So join that too as you're already on here

NCT classes are not all about 'doing things all natutal'. They should cover all the interventions and pain relief too - pros and cons. If they don't you should complain to head office. They have an extremely robust complaints procedure and also a very thorough ongoing CPD and review procedure too.