Help with Antenatal classes please

[mimimou]

Hi all,
I am 20weeks and trying to decide on antenatal classes. Our hospital (Whittington in Islington) has free antenatal classes and already signed up with those. I also found a hypnobirthing course I want to do that costs £295 and then there are the NCT classes which turn out to be more expensive than I expected at £300 and I am a bit confused with all the options...

I definitely want to do the hypnobirthing ones, does that mean I don't need to do the NCT classes? Everybody says they are great because you meet people and I really want to meet other first time mums because I don't know any in my area, but is it really worth spending £300 for meeting people? Any ideas?

thank you
Maria

Hi Maria :)

AFAIK the NCT classes will cover a lot you won't get from hypnobirthing - like classes on breast feeding, bathing etc. Though I've yet to do mine so I'm not able to say much more than that!

Why not get a list of the class schedule for your NCT one, and see if you think it'll be worth it?

Hi Maria, I'm booked in at the Whittington too! Starting NHS classes next week so maybe I'll see you there? I looked into NCT ones too but reasoned that paying £300 to make friends was just a bit excessive. I'll just be hanging around coffee shops in Crouch End until the other mums start talking to me

Hi Maria. You could phone the local NCT and ask if you could talk to the antenatal teacher about what the classes cover. Ours covered lots of stuff on relationships, perineal massage, bathing /changing the baby and breastfeeding, and we were also allowed to suggest extra areas we wanted covered.

If you don't do the classes, though, remember that the NCT does run baby groups. You don't need to be a member to go, and I found our local NCT bumps & babies group a fantastic way to make friends, even before I had DD1 (I had just moved to this area, knew no-one, so went from about 6 months pg and soon had a great circle of friends). The NCT website or your local branch should be able to tell you when and where these groups take place.

With the £300 course fee, does that include the fee for joint membership of the NCT? I think it used to get added to the course fee, and you could then opt out of paying it. I don't know how much membership is now, but if it is included in the price, opting out could knock a chunk off the price for you.

Forgot to say, our bumps an babies group was run by one of the antenatal teachers anyway, so it was a good way to get some free advice from a qualified antenatal teacher too!!! :)

I've done both Hypnobirthing and NCT classes. Hypnobirthing was great, worth every penny. I'm 38 weeks so haven't had a chance to put it to use but I feel I've got a lot out of it. NCT classes were fine - both me and my husband felt that we didn't learn anything there that we didn't already know, others in the class felt the same. Still, a good place to meet people, but you can do that yourself by checking the website and going along to groups (you don't have to be a member). If I'd known I wouldn't have forked out for both.

Thank you so much for your answers! this is very helpful :)

LordyLady: great! a fellow Whittington mum to be. when are you due? our classes our not actually until July and will have to miss the first one because going to a cousin's wedding in Greece. Would be interested to hear what they cover in that first class and what you think of the classes in general. Have you gone for a tour? We haven't, but i think it's covered in the classes (hope it's not the first one!). Let me know if you ever come towards Upper street, lots of coffee shops with mums around here!

FluffyJawsOfDoom & Catsycat: great idea re finding out what local branch classes cover. I will do that. Already know quit a lot re nappy changes, bathing, changing etc from helping my sister with her twin daughters so I am more interested in the birthing process.

Catsycat: yes the £300 covers the £40 membership fee. Love the bumps and babies group idea! will find out.

Lizzy1975: so glad you liked the hypnobirthing classes. i have a sense i will like them too. thanks for NCT feedback. very useful to know. i think they might be more useful to my husband than me, although meeting new mums will be more useful to me!

I don't know anything about hypnobirthing classes, but my NCT classes were awesome and I'm still in touch with the people I met there three years on. The other people in the class were an absolute lifeline for getting through the first few weeks and have been a great source of support for all the other milestones too.

The classes were four weekend mornings and covered birth options, specifically what happens during birth and how a birth partner can help, pain relief, maternity services, hospital bag packing, breastfeeding (4 hours on this alone, v useful), preparing for a baby, looking after a baby, how a baby affects a relationship, looking after yourself after birth, postnatal depression and more. The NCT is very active in the area and the antenatal classes meant I knew about lots of other baby groups and breastfeeding cafes being set up and I have gone on to be a volunteer, so I can't say enough about how great the classes were for me.

However, I have friends who have done NCT classes and have ended up with very few other people on the same course or having to attend classes away from where they live, so they didn't ever see the people again, or just over two days so they didn't get a chance to make those relationships. These are thing that are worth checking.

babybouncer: thank you for the response and information. there seem to be two options at my local NCT. Both are over one weekend, 10am till 5pm both days, but one has one extra day on breastfeeding.

I just emailed the local contact asking if I could talk to the trainer for more information.

Btw did the breastfeeding session included partners or was it just mums? Our local one is just mums and although 4 hours might be a bit too much for partners to sit through I keep reading about how important is for partners to understand the practicalities and difficulties of breastfeeding so I was wondering why they are excluded