Has anyone done an NCT postnatal class?

[banana87]

I've just signed up as I'm starting to suffer PND with DD2 and thought that perhaps an NCT course to meet other mums might be a good idea, especially as meeting new people made a world if difference when I had DD1. Am I right in thinking I will be the only mum with two children? Is the post natal course better than the antenatal in regards to who you meet? Last time the girls I met antenatally were ok, but we have nothing in common and I'm not in touch with them anymore. I'm just hoping I've made the right choice...

Bump

Hi banana, I did a postnatal early days course. I quite enjoyed it as something to do in the first few weeks. It was interesting as we talked a lot about routines, sleeping etc, and it made me realise quite quickly not to beat myself up about that kind of stuff!

As for the people, I think it's the luck of the draw tbh. I see the girls from my antenatal much more, but that's cos they are more local and have spent more time together. But no reason why that shouldn't be with a postnatal group if you get on.

Re the PND I think getting out and about with people must help, particularly in an environment where you ar encouraged to talk openly about how things are going. One girl in our class was struggling a lot (don't know if it was PND) but I know the sessions really helped her.

Re 2 children, we were all on our first, but not sure why it would be an issue. Would you have to take DD1 with you? If so I would check with the course leader about how that would work, as it is mainly sitting around talking!

Hope all goes well for you

Hi banana

Agree with Spagbol that it is the luck of the draw but I did the course and my group were nice, and it got me through the early weeks where I really struggled with baby blues and had to get out of the house or start going a bit nuts. The content to be honest wasn't that helpful, but that wasn't really the point for me. One other mum had 3 babies, she was new to the area and had come to meet people, didn't make a difference at all.

Hope you get along well.

I did the Early Days course and it was a godsend for me in terms of meeting new mums, mainly as I didn't do the ante-natal course. As Tadpoley said, the content isn't so important, although the discussions on the different topics can raise interesting issues. I was on my first baby but there were quite a few people who had more but wanted to meet other people for various reasons.

Just the opportunity to sit down and have a whole cup of tea (made for you) and a chat about all the things that are bothering you was great. Sometimes, we went for lunch afterwards and I still see a number of the people I met.

I don't know what you will will be doing but the EY course is a rolling programme over 12 weeks so you can join at any time. A number of us carried on going after the 12 weeks were up as we enjoyed it so much and, in the end, had to be virtually told to stop coming in case we put new people with tiny babies off (one mum left on her baby's first birthday which was taking things quite far).

I agree re luck of the draw. I did the ED course, appreciated it, was on my first. In our area the group was very small. 6 were signed up, 5 were expected on the first session, I was the only one to make it for the first one and in the end we settled on 3. The other two knew each other through their antenatal group and I had already met one on a pn exercise class a few days before!

That said, I really appreciated the 1:1 support on the first session when my son was 6wks old: we'd had a real fight around feeding and given my mental health history, I was at risk of PND. I also am the sort of person who likes talking things through so as others have said, whilst the content wasn't earth shattering, it was great to discuss and hear other perspectives. I think the perspective of someone who was on number 2 would have been helpful to me, and I'd like to think that in the same way I find spending time with mums with younger babies useful now (in terms of: "you know, I never thought I'd get through that time, but we did, and so will they").

Another benefit is it has plugged me into the local NCT network in a way the antenatal classes did not: it's not all for me, but I do feel there is a wider support network out there and I'm happy to access it, and offer my own help where needed.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm looking forward to it with fingers crossed I get a better group than I had antenatally for DD1.

You may also be able to have a postnatal group without the early days course (or can do both!) Have a look on the NCT website and it may give details of a local postnatal co-ordinator - email her and she'll invite you to her next meeting.
I've also really enjoyed doing baby sensory with my DC3. I don't remember it being around with the other two.