No classes available prior to birth - scared!

[Jane0123]

Hi all,

Just looking for some reassurance. Other than a class on breastfeeding 2 weeks before I give birth, I have no classes available to me in my area and can’t afford the NCT ones. I’m terrified as don’t know what to expect in regards to the birth, aftercare and this is also my first baby and I have no babies/children in the family!

Not sure what I’m after with this post - maybe just some reassurance or people in the same situation?!

Thanks ☺️

Should maybe mention that I’m 33 weeks so not log to go!!

Can you speak to your midwife? Books from the library? I read loads and found reading actually more useful than nct classes. Research online? Honestly though, as long as you chat to midwife about things like cord clamping and injections you’ll be ok
Good luck.

Oh and get a tour of hospital beforehand if you can? That made me feel better knowing where to go and what the rooms were like. They tell you what pain relief is available etc

Ah that’s fab! Thank you :) I know a few people who have said they found NCT classes not as helpful as they thought they would have been which makes me feel a bit better as it would be worse if everyone said they were the best thing since sliced bread!

Google things like positive birth stories, hypnobirthing etc. It should help you get in a good frame of mind for birth, as calm as possible. Don't read horror stories.

There is so much information on the internet you can find out almost everything you need to know about dealing with things after birth if you take the time to look.

TBH I didn't find the classes I did that informative, but by then I had already read a lot so was aleady well-informed. Funnily enough the most useful thing I did was a half day breast feeding workshop, so if you can get on that, I'd definitely recommend it.

Books I found really helpful were:
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Active Birth

CoolGirls suggestion of booking a tour of theplace you are planning on giving birth in is a good one. A lot of the prolems surrounding childbirth are to do with fear of the unknown so the more you learn, the mor erelaxed you will be.

There's quite a lot of videos on YouTube regarding giving birth etc. NHS does some of them.

If you're planning on breastfeeding I recommend the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book (or basically any breastfeeding book - learn about cluster feeding, tongue tie, positioning and mastitis) - again youtube is pretty good for this especially for learning to latch the baby.

There's also quite a few free hynobirthing courses (or at least short courses). I did one with the Calm Birth School 3 years ago and The Yes Mum (who was part of Calm Birth School) has a podcast type thing you can download.

I did Daisy Birthing classes. They were significantly cheaper than NCT

There are online classes you can do. Not sure if I’m allowed to say here (delete if not, admins) but Babycentre do some.

There are others too. Just have a google around, and ask your midwife about options.

I didn't attend classes as I moved 2 months before my due date and had to cancel the ones I had booked.

I don't think anything can prepare you for childbirth and most of the time anything you do learn or techniques go out the window because you've not got the teacher there implementing them.

Tbh I didnt think the classes were particularly helpful. With my first pregnancy I went to 2 out of 6 classes and they were so rubbish I didn't bother going back. I think you can get all the information you need from reading pregnancy and birthing books, and talking to other mums, and your midwife !

I had no classes at all, no babies in the family and, no problems!

I didn’t do any either. Just didn’t feel comfortable with the idea, somehow. I read loads of stuff online, and the Ina May book (a bit hippyish but good after that) and had my first at home.

The internet was definitely my best resource. Read everything you can, even the scary bits. I felt much better knowing what the different stages were, what my body would be doing etc.

Also, the thing that worked best for me was trying to relax my hands through contractions. It’s really hard, especially at the pushing stage but is supposed to keep you from wasting energy tensing in the wrong place, and requires quite a lot of concentration. I think that might have been in the Ina May book. It worked brilliantly for me!

Hi there!

Where I live there's Mummy Buddy. Pregnant women meet women who have recently had a baby. Have a look on Facebook and do a Google search to see if there's something similar where you live.

There's also Peanuts, Mush mums and Mummy links. Normally they're for new mums to meet up but I'm sure some would be happy to pass on their wisdom.

Oh and I should recommend the Positive Birth Book by Milli Hill! I found that one of the more useful, there was another called something like “how to grow a baby and push it out”.

There’s a Facebook group called “tell me a good birth story” which is lovely.

Have a look for your local bumps & baby group you don’t need to be a NCT member to go, they’ll also give great breastfeeding advice.

I never did classes I used hypnobirthing books & mumsnet as well as YouTube videos are really really useful especially with learning to breathe through contractions.

Nip to a local mum's group and talk there - most mum's will be honest and BabyCenter has some great info for FTMs too on all aspects of labour etc.

If your consultant based then fire any questions to us (2nd time consultant based and currently on ward getting induced).

Really the only 4 classes needed are MLU Delivery and the two intervention ones (worthwhile going too as info is power) and a BF one which imho are crap and best way go learn is do with help from staff on ward.

.good luck.

I second the recommendation of Ina May’s book, and popping along to a mother and baby group. You could always ask the group leader if that’ll be ok in advance, if you feel a bit awkward about it. Most mums are very happy to give an honest picture of things and will be familiar with all the options. Your midwife should also be able to help with useful information.

If you are low income NCT can offer very reduced rates

I’m also more than happy to answer any questions you have about childbirth etc here - will do my best to be neutral and honest.

I didn’t the Marie mongan hypnobirthing book and classes but have a few friend who did it just with the book. Sure you can download the cd from somewhere I’d you look x

I didn’t do any classes prior to having dd, we were moving across the county due to a death in the family and I had HG and was in a zero hours job, DP had to give up his job when we moved. There was no time and no money for classes, and we were fine. There is nothing in any of these classes that you can’t look up and read/watch yourself online. I read loads about birthing positions, perineal massage in the weeks prior, how stress hormones and oxytocin affect labour, what drugs increased the risk of needing intervention, breathing techniques, breastfeeding - the list was endless. You just have to look for the information you need, not pay someone else who doesn’t necessarily have any real experience (the lady running one class we looked into hadn’t given birth herself) But I went into labour feeling confident I knew what to do, and if all failed the medical professionals would take over. As it was I managed most of my labour at home, then a few hours of gas and air in hospital with no intervention whatsoever, no tearing or birth injurys. I was lucky, but had put myself in the best position I could in terms of feeling informed about labour and birth.

The only reason I see these classes are really useful is building a network of ‘mum friends’ with babies the same age, but you can do this by going to baby classes with dc once they are born. You can access the knowledge yourself. Good luck OP, mumsnet is a great resource too

I'd go on you tube. Put in positive birth stories, labour and delivery story's. What's in my hospital bag, newborn essentials. There are tonnes and tonnes of good ones. Hypnobirthing and positive birthing show you the breathing. Just listening to other ladies helped me. I would watch the uk births though as the American ones have a different system to us xxxx

Educationally Nct was rubbish. You get as much by researching different pain relief options, stages of labour and best birthing positions. I’d echo other posters suggesting hypnobirthing but personally, I wouldn’t just look up the positive birthing stories as that can lead to a world of disappointment if you’re not prepared for interventions. I’d also look up induction and c section processes too. The one thing in our Nct class that was helpful was seeing some of the instruments and being told how many people would be in the room for a section.

Basically our Nct class was spent ‘bonding’ and talking about our emotions. Our breast feeding class was close to useless as well. Nothing on mixed feeding or problems. We just spent quite a lot of time sucking an orange with a straw. Please don’t feel worried that you’re missing out on the educational side. The main thing you get from the classs are friends and you can meet people later at baby groups.