Ante-natal classes or no?

[amyem]

Hi,

I just wondered if anyone can advise whether or not it's worth doing some ante-natal classes? The NHS ones round where we live are no good for us time wise so we would need to pay privately for them, so obviously don't want to pay out for something unless it's really worth it as that money could go towards more things for baby.

There's so much info online now and my mum brought over what can only be described as a bible of baby things that she had when she was pregnant with me and although some things may have changed now it does have some really good and helpful info in it.

I know someone who did go to ante-natal classes and someone who didn't and both are getting on fine, they've really just said that the classes are more about meeting other people in the same position as you and building up a group of friends, so if you send a message at 2 in the morning someone is likely to also be up!

I just don't want to seem like I don't care or a bad mum for not going to the classes considering my midwife asks me every time I see her whether I'm going to or not, but I'm just not sure if it's worth the cost? What do you think?

Thank you!!

I think if you really will read up on labour etc. you could skip the classes.

The one thing I was not informed enough about was breastfeeding. I did go to NHS antenatal classes but the feeding talk was all about persuading us to BF, therefore painting a rosy picture of how natural it is. She did not prepare us for the commitment, perseverance etc. required. I did not fully understand just how feeding orientated the first few nights would be and didn't feed DD enough so my milk was slow to come in. It was an awful start that saw us readmitted so if you intend to BF please study info on websites like La leche league and a particularly good site is Kellymom.

The one thing I did get from my AN classes was a supportive group of friends. I was sceptical about wanting/needing this but it turned out to be invaluable as we had a WhatsApp group and kept each other company in the middle of the night when we were feeding and the rest of the world were asleep. Two of the group have ended up really good friends of mine and at 19m us and our children still meet up and have a great time together.

Ah thanks that's really helpful to know xx