NCT - worth it?

[Plateofcrumbs]

I'd always assumed I'd do an NCT course despite the fact I find something about the whole idea sets my teeth on edge. Then I found out the price - £327 for the course in my area!

Is it actually worth it?

I know everyone says it's worth it for the friends you make but I'm finding something faintly horrific about the idea of being forced to make friends with people just because they happen to be up the duff at the same time as you. And paying over £300 for the privilege.

Do I just need to get over myself and suck it up?

I couldn't get onto my local Nct course as I left it too late but I did similar independant classes ran by 2 midwives (midlands area). We have only managed to meet up as a whole group twice in a year but I meet up on a weekly basis with 2 of the ladies and their babies.
Early on I found it helpful having people to talk to going through the same thing at the same time but really you could do that through here I suppose.
I've also met lovely friends through baby massage and baby sensory so I think if you're ok with online support in the early days and able to get to baby groups quite quickly then I would give them a miss

My NCT course finished a couple of weeks ago, it cost £165 (full fee) for six sessions of two and a half hours each and it was brilliant. The teacher was a trained midwife and was incredibly knowledgeable and not at all woo - we had a whole session on different kinds of pain relief, the types of epidural you can have, what a ventouse looks like, what happens (step-by-step) during a cesarian etc. In the women-only session we also covered the different degrees of tears and stitches and perineal massage, pelvic floor exercises etc. It was very practical with a great deal of emphasis on the fact that it's all very well trying to plan your "ideal" birth, whatever that may be, but very few births go entirely accordingly to plan and you have to be prepared for all eventualities.

I had thought I knew quite a bit already from Mumsnet, google etc but learnt lots in every session. DP also felt he gained a lot from it and one benefit I hadn't anticipated was the way we ended up discussing what had been covered after each class, which helped us both work out how we felt about various things and also, I think, has helped us focus on the upcoming birth (I'm now 36+4).

I was dubious about it all before I went but am now so glad I did - and for the actual content of the course more than the "friends" aspect (though I'm sure the group will continue to meet in some form after our babies arrive).

go to your garden to relax, while your husband massages your shoulders and talk about your honeymoon

WTAF

If it is anything like that forget it.

Our NCT tutor had a list of really expensive doulas she could recommend but not a spare copy of the safety leaflet about how not to accidently smother babies to death in overheated cots.

I felt this more or less summed up the priorities of the organisation.

Which is a shame- because I think the aims (empowering women in childbirth) of the organisation are really sound. They are just, unfortunately very oriented towards the middle class.

I always say this on these threads but if you want to meet people locally you can join the NCT without doing the classes. I met more people locally doing that then the classes I attended.

Loved ours.. The teacher didn't patronise and we discussed what we all wanted to cover in the first session. Made great friends who have been a good support and we meet regularly (babies all about 7weeks now)

Thought ours were a waste of money, very preachy and judgemental teacher who frowned on anything that wasn't natural childbirth with no pain relief and exclusive Breastfeeding. I enjoyed annoying her by saying I was going to have an epidural and bottle feed.

Was nice to meet others having their babies around the same time, but 5 years on, I've made better friends and lost touch with them.

I would say that if you agree with the NCT's agenda and don't know anyone in your area, then go for it but there are other ways to make friends and gain birth information than NCT classes.

I did the free NHS class in hospital. The facilitator was also an NCT instructor and told us what kinds of things they do at the NCT course. In one instance, she told us that they do a role playing exercise where you pretend to be your MIL, to explore how she would feel about the new baby. I knew immediately this wasn't for me!

I am a doctor so very much like evidence and have a very finely honed quackometer! My NCT classes (that I really went to initially for my DH's benefit as he's not a doctor) were great. We covered everything, including bottle feeding and sections. While I'm only vaguely in touch with my classmates 3 years on, the support was invaluable over the first few weeks and month.

germanwife, we didn't have to do anything like that! How weird!

I didn't bother. I had twins and was advised a lot of it was irrelevant. I was booked on a twin specific TAMBA course but they decided to turn up very early so we didn't even make that and wasted £180 in the process.

I already had family / friends locally with young children so didn't really feel the need to be 'forced' to make more. I think it would be useful though if you don't know anyone in the area etc.

Ours was great (although for £160, not £300+!). Much more useful than the NHS classes, which were OK but had less time and were a lot less detailed. I actually got more of a pro-natural-birth, avoid-all-interventions vibe from the NHS classes than the NCT.

That said they do vary. A friend in another part of the country did NCT classes which were really focused on 'normal', straightforward birth and didn't give much info on anything else, and she felt like they didn't prepare her at all for for the birth she actually had. Ours showed us forceps and ventouse and explained how and why they're used, did a lot on caesareans, and definitely didn't leave me feeling like there was one NCT-approved way to give birth and anything else was going off the rails.

One thing to remember (not sure if it has already been mentioned - I have scanned the thread but might have missed it - if so, apologies) - you don't HAVE to go to an NCT course to get the other benefits of NCT involvement.

You can go along to a Bumps and Babes coffee morning, which are for pregnant mums, and mums of babies under a year old, and there will be other coffee mornings in your area too - so you can find people at a similar stage of parenthood to you, and hopefully make friends too.

You can also contact the breastfeeding counsellors, and the post natal support coordinator, or hire a breast pump or a Valley cushion (to sit on if you tear or have an episiotomy - better for you than a ring cushion) - you don't have to have done the classes.

I really do recommend the NCT. I did do the classes the first time round, but the real benefit came when ds1 was 11 months old, and we moved from Wiltshire to Essex, and I joined the local NCT branch as a way of meeting people and making friends - and it worked a treat. Three of the women I met and became friends with, because we have children of similar ages (or at least one matching child between us, if you see what I mean) are still friends - and ds1 is now 20 years old, and at University!

The classes seem to vary massively from place to place. I found ours very preachy about natural birth, BF etc and our teacher's class on CS was set out to terrify. I then had to have a CS for low placenta and was absolutely scared stiff as a result.

I met some lovely people but frankly, met more going to various baby classes once DS arrived. So given the choice again, I'd have saved the money and gone on a dirty weekend away with it before baby arrived!

£327!!!

My DH was moaning that I paid out £54 for our sessions!!

We have attended classes that are run in one of the local hospitals and they have been very interesting. The course only consists of 4 classes:

1. Labour and Birthing
2. Assistance in Labour and birthing aids.
3. Breast Feeding
4. Care of your baby in its first month of life and post birth recovery.

Each class is just over 2 hours long and me and DH have always left feeling satisfied and more knowledgeable.

OP our teacher told us to put a flower at the end of the delivery bed and watch it open as we were in labour and imagine our cervix doing the same thing . I knew I was going to be friends with these women when every single one of us rolled our eyes.

Have massively outed myself with that!

Last nights NCT was all about assistance in labour. She went through pros and cons of pain relief and showed us the vontouse etc. Really informative.

And no bias that I could detect, infancy she almost made me rethink my no epidural policy...!

So far I have not been asked to pretend to be my MIL FX this does not occur Germanwife!

Hmm so in conclusion NCT could be incredibly informative and helpful or else a load of woo, quackery, biased and one-sided information.

And I could meet best friends for life or a few people I have nothing (except a baby) in common with who I'd probably have met somewhere else anyway.

So I don't think I'm any closer to deciding whether it's worth it!

I remember someone else saying to me that they regretted not doing NCT as she found it hard to break into the 'NCT clique' at Bumps & Babies etc - not that she found they were deliberately unwelcoming, just that they'd all become friends much earlier on in the process and she found herself trying to join in an established group.

I would really recommend going along to a few of the coffee mornings. You don't have to be a member - and I don't think you have anything to lose. Worst case you hate everyone there - so,you never go back. Or maybe you don't find friends for life, but you do find some pleasant people you can spend the occasional morning with (and that is a good thing, when you are at home with a baby). I found it easier to go to NCT coffee mornings because I knew they were baby and child friendly.

I am a firm supporter of the NCT (you might have guessed ), and I was a member of my branch committee (I was the Chair, by the end), and I used to host coffee mornings - in fact, I hosted one when I was in labour with ds3! I didn't have to make the coffee that time, but someone else still hogged the comfiest chair!

Beginnings somebody should tell her NHS maternity wards don't allow flowers because of the irritation they can cause to newborn airway (stuffiness&blocked nose from pollen)..... And ask her why she assumed you would be on a bed anyway...?

I'm 90% sure I am going to do the NCT Signature course. The only course the NHS can offer me is on a Saturday which is really tough for me and OH to make. They only run them every six weeks, and as I have only just been given the instructions on how to sign up by my midwife (despite saying at booking in I wanted to do it), the only one of the two classes I can make between now and my due date is already full as they have reduced the size of classes.

I quite like the idea of meeting people at a similar stage - I have not been in the area long so don't know that many people anyway. How far in advance do people take NCT classes? I will be doing mine about two weeks before my due date (again, only one available).

Quite relieved that I've been given a price of 165 for the course!

NHS classes were better than NCT for content but my NCT friends and I meet up at least once a week and really have been invaluable support.

I had a largely positive experience - really interesting to see how varied it can be though!
For me the main benefit was setting aside that time with DH to attend the classes and give our undivided attention to the course content. Even though I'd read much of the info in books and on the internet there was no substitute for me being able to hear it first hand and ask questions. For DH even more so, as he doesn't read much and would never have listened to me going on about everything (!) It was a real bonding experience for us, and left him feeling more informed and empowered as my birth partner and me feeling more supported.
Sounds like we were lucky re the course content as it didn't push the natural stuff too much, included caring for a newborn and was pretty balanced. Lol at cervix opening like a flower beginnings!!!
We did do it partly to make friends in a similar situation as we'd just moved to a new area, but that didn't work out as only 2 other couples came. One didn't socialise; the other we hit it off with then they moved abroad gutted :(
As has already been said it's easy to meet people in other ways, but it's also unlikely that's going to be in the first month after the birth as most people are too busy getting the hang of feeding/ trying to leave the house etc to go to groups. There is nothing better then sitting in someone's living room who's in the same situation as you. Because you've already discussed nipple and stitches it doesn't feel weird to be doing that.
Not sure about doing a refresher course for DC2 though as I agree it's big bucks

OP, as you can see it's a mix bag of experiences. How friendly people are may depend on the area you live in. We attended the nhs classes at our local hospital which were fantastic but we didn't make any friends. We also attended the NCT classes which weren't that great and the teacher was a bit rubbish but the other mums I now see on a weekly basis are the NCT group. I attend two baby groups a week and haven't met anyone I'm friendly enough with that I'd suggest meeting up with outside of the group. For me my NCT group has been a real lifeline. Luckily we genuinely all get on but once we all start going back to work things will obviously peter out but for now it's working out really well.
I think it just depends on how friendly people are in your area. I know 3 other mums who didn't do NCT and have really struggled to make friends with the other mums in their area. They've regretted not doing NCT.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Either way there are lots of great activities you can do with your baby. Enjoy!