Are nct ante-natal classes worth the mega-bucks?

[whizzyrocket]

Considering signing up to a course in Wallingford, but is it worth £142 at a time when we'll be buying everything we haven't so far for young babe's arrival (or Sprogbert as my dh calls him!) and will be a little short of the old dubloons?

Yes, yes, yes!

Gosh, they've gone up alot in the last couple of years!

But worth every penny IMO.

In my experience, yes, they are. I was on a low income when I did it, and so paid a lower proportion of the advertised cost. That's worth asking about when you book it - the classes can even be free to some.

I remember reading in their literature that NCT don't want the cost to be a barrier to anyone doing their class - although being a charity they do of course need income to function!

Our classes were brilliant. There were 5 couples in total - 4 years later we all still meet up regularly (Dads as well) and are good friends. Our teacher was great - totally un-patronising, and we liked her so much we asked her to be our Doula with DD2. She was willing to tailor the classes to our own concerns, rather than just do the same course for every group. The Dads seemed to learn most in terms of hard facts - most of the women had done a bit of reading beforehand; but she also did some work on the more psychological side of parenting, how it might change relationships, how we could deal with differing opinions on parenting issues, for example. And the labour position practice did involve lots of giggling (especially when we tried sitting on a bucket), though even funnier was the perineal massage using plasticine perineums !!!!!!

Hi I'm not going to the NCT classes - our local ones cost £270!! and I could get exactly the same amount of hours from our local NHS hospital. You don't have to attend NCT classes and pay the mega bucks to attend NCT support groups/ mother and toddler sessions after the baby born so if your only going for the friend side of things I would avoid. Obviously it depends on what classes your local hospital are going to provide but people have been having babies for a long time before antenatal classes and so definitely not essential. Saying that do whatever you feel happiest with.

Hi. I couldn't get a place on my local NCT class, so sent them an email asking them to put me in touch with other mums who were having a baby around the same time. I got an email a couple of weeks later and ended up meeting a group of new mums for coffee, which then became a weekly meet-up. We're all back at work now, but still arrange meet ups with our now 4 year olds on our days off.
Was really helpful to have a group of friends with babies of a similar age who were happy to chat for hours about breastfeeding, weaning and sleeping worries.
Maybe you could try just emailing the NCT if you don't want to spend the money on the course.

No.

There was only one other couple on our course, and haven't stayed in touch. In fact don't think we had any contact from them or NCT since! We signed up as we were new to the area and everyone had said it was a great way to meet people and make friends, total bollocks! It'll be worth checking how many others have signed up for the course your interested in before you pay up!

A friend who I met after DS was born went to the same class a couple of months later and had exactly the same situation, limited numbers and didn't stay in touch with anyone.

We won't be wasting our money again!

I posted a similar question months back and personally I'm glad I never. Why don't u try attending a free nct session if possible? I joined a Facebook group for our 2 local nct. And I was lucky to meet who would be leading it and got a taster session. Sadly they lived up to their stereotype and
A friend took my place on the course and she hated it....worst £186 she ever spent were her words! I know people who have had good experiences and bad. Depends on your teacher and who is on your group. The way I decided was could I afford to gamble £186 to find out? The answer was no!! Now baby is here I don't regret my decision at all. I mainly wanted a social support group which I found at aqua natal and various pregnant aquainances...I recommend if u didn't sign up...to get the local nct newsletters as u find out other local (free) groups to attend post and ore birth if it's the social bit u want.

My birth went very different to what I was expecting and nct maybe would have prepared me knowledge wise rather than the rubbish nhs one I went to...but having had no previous prep for an emergency c section etc....I managed fine.

Friends who did attend nct said as far as learning went...they would have been fine saving the money and using forums like this. The minority said it was worth the expense. Friendship (if a good group) being the only advantage.

Can I add to my previous post, I did find it a good way to meet people in a new area, so it seems everyone's experience is different!

Although I knew the mechanics of giving birth, and how to look after a newborn, from reading up on the subject, I found the classes did make me think about things I hadn't entertained a thought of - for instance CS. I never thought I would have one, when it was discussed in class I had a panic attack, which was a heads up for me to go and get some help (I have a hospital phobia) before the birth. In the end I had an EMCS, and the class definitely helped me prepare for this. Yes, women have been giving birth forever, but the question is whether you would benefit from the confidence that extra knowledge could give to you or your DP, and whether your experience could be enhanced by going to a class. Only you can decide that, and if you think there is no benefit then that is absolutely fair enough - having antenatal classes isn't the law!

Our local NCT branch is very small and everyone knows everyone else, which makes it easy to find out what's going on and who is good / not so good! One of our antenatal teachers ran the local NCT Bumps and Babies group (where I also made a lot of lasting friends) and she did the NHS funded antenatal sessions too, so there was lots of opportunity to find out if I was comfortable with the approach of the branch. As others have suggested, you could see if there was a similar local group and gather opinion on your local classes - they probably differ depending on the teacher.

You could also phone your local branch and ask to meet the teacher before you decide to enrol (maybe she could meet you before / after one of the current classes, for example?) so you can check that you feel comfortable with her and ask any questions about the course. It is fair enough if you are going to pay a lot for something!

I would also say that if you join a group and it isn't addressing the things you wanted it to, then tell the teacher ASAP and ask her for input on the areas you wanted covering. She should have the flexibility to do this.

Whizzy - what's the worst that can happen? You've wasted almost £200. Now obv. if that is just too much to contemplate then don't do it. (But look at where your money goes since it's easy to waste a similar amount of money on a load of crap per month.)
My one complaint wld be that the people in my group were all quite a way from me, which was slightly annoying.
I did learn some useful things, tho of course you can pick it all up from books, or MN, as others have said.
But, in the early days, I was very glad I had this group - it was a great support espesh when everything is a bit mental new. It felt like we were all in it together.
If you don't fancy NCT then I wld try to join something with people at your same stage - e.g. preg yoga or a hypnobirthing grp. Good luck!