Is NCT membership worth it??

[H0709]

I wish I'd asked this before I signed up as I'm in now but I can't see the point of the membership! I feel like I'm missing something, has anyone had any decent benefits from being a member?

I haven't attended the classes yet, I'm hoping to meet some people in the area as well as learn a bit about babies!

In my experience paying for the nct classes has been invaluable. The thought of getting through those early weeks without our supportive WhatsApp's chats at 3am and coffee meet ups is horrible and would've been so much lonelier. However the small additional cost for membership I paid hasn't been particularly useful but it's not that much compared to the actual nct classes which I would def pay again

I've found the classes useful for the people I met, NOT for the content of the lesson. Basically it's a cost of about £50 per friend.... I'd do them again for the network I've made, but I'd recommend hypo birthing for actually helping during labour, the Positive Birth Company do a good online option.

As for the additional cost of NCT membership- I really can't see the point!

If I had my time over, I wouldn’t have joined. The course content is freely available elsewhere — as in, it’s nothing that isn’t also covered in the free NHS classes, and in books — and you don’t need to be a member to attend the NCT coffee

Mine wasn't. The emphasis was so heavily towards natural childbirth and avoiding interventions at all cost, I felt like a total failure when I ended up having a crash caesarian. I was also told to insist on refusing formula if I wanted to establish breast feeding. My baby ended up with a dipped fontanelle and I had to be given a stern talking to by the doctor that my baby needed a feed of formula as he was dehydrated. I wrote a letter of complaint but got nothing back. I didn't have much in common with the other parents either, they were much posher than me! I can see how they could be good, but they weren't for me.

mornings or sales, so you are paying for friends, basically. And my group didn’t get on, lived awkward distances from one another, and drifted apart quickly.