Private antenatal sessions

[HMT13]

I've contacted a local midwife that runs classes. They also do private sessions where they come to your home. They charge £150 for 2 private sessions. Does this sound reasonable? I have nothing to compare it to so just wondered if anyone could help!

I paid £180 for 4 classes with NCT (5 couples in the sessions) however the main reason I wanted to do antenatal classes was to meet other mums-to-be that were due at the same time. What is it you are hoping to get from the classes? I wouldn't personally have paid for individual sessions as I didn't learn anything that I couldn't have found on mumsnet the Internet.

What happens during the sessions? How long are they?

I had NCT antenatal classes which were around six to eight hours altogether, in two sessions with couples and one breastfeeding class. That was about £200.

To be honest, the most useful part of the classes was meeting other parents to be. What are you hoping to get out of these sessions?

Ha! Cross post with RockChick there.

I have looked at the NCT ones but I can't do any due to my work hours. To be perfectly honest I am only looking at doing them as its my first baby and have no idea what to expect. I kind of feel like i should be doing them. Would I just basically be taught what I can read in a book/find on internet?
My husband is away with work until a couple of weeks before I'm due and I live away from family/friends, so the thought of turning up at a class full of couples fills me with dread!

The NHS run classes too, and your local hospital will have more info. They might be better hours for you. I did NCT and if you can't make those or the NHS ones, I'd have the classes you suggest. I found it invaluable just to be able to ask silly questions and though there are millions of books on these topics, I don't think you can beat spending time with a pro and firing questions at them! Xx

I did the nhs classes on my own, it was fine. Didn't learn anything that wasn't in every pregnancy/baby book but if you like the sound of it then go for it.

Apparently everything can be read in a book. I've heard the money is better spent on hiring a doula, and trying to find some free NhS ones.

I echo what everyone else says about meeting people in the classes, whether nct or NHS. Especially if you have no family locally ( like me), local friends with children the same age as yours are invaluable.

Thanks for your info, I think i'll give them a miss, I felt like it was something I had to do. I've got some books and know a few girls locally that have young children and babies so will stick with that :)

As an aside, you might want to check with your employer. Mine explicitly includes ante-natal classes in the "reasonable time off" provision for MW appoitments etc.

Mine too

another downside to being self employed :(

If you're self-employed, can't you mark out that time for antenatal like you would if you were PAYE?

I would investigate the hospital classes. Yes, it is all in books or online. But I did still find it quite useful to have someone to ask the really stupid questions that popped into my mind.

But the most important thing for me was meeting other parents. Don't be put off by your DH being away - I mainly made friends with the women at my NCT class, who I still see three years later. Your DH could join a later meet up of the group.

Great if you meet mothers at other classes too, but I found that doing NCT classes meant you met people at exactly the stage of pregnancy you are. When it is your first baby, a five week old is entirely different from a five month old and people you meet at other baby groups may not have babies exactly the same age. That to me was more useful than anything else as you could say things like:

"Is your baby pooing green?"

...and they were at the same place as me.

But don't worry, even without classes, there is always Mumsnet!