When pregnant, did anyone else go through the whole rigmarole without every hearing about...

[HuwEdwards]

the NCT?

Ok, I knew what the acronym stood for, but no more than that. Everyone I know now since having kids, 'belonged' to the NCT...how? why?

I did with dd1 - never knew about the group until Mumsnet.

Only heard of it on MN

i didn't join, too tight to pay , for what came free through the hospital. i think it depends how good the backup from your hospital is as i know alot of people who swear by the nct

What do they do for you - oh I know I could look at the website, but I'd rather know from the 'users' themselves, what the benefits of joining were/are?

I heard about them but didnt join. Couldnt afford to anyway even if I'd wanted to.

nope, nothing like that where i lived, only read it on MN

Hi there
We joined when pg with dd1, we had a series of 6 evening antenatal classes which were in a leaders house once a week, for about 2 hours. There were also 2 girls only talks in the morning (the breastfeeding and paper knickers talk). They were good for us first timers, the only other alternative we were offered was a 2 hour at the hospital. They weren't cheap but were good. But worth every penny was the 5 other couples who made up the group, as they became such good friends and became a lifeline in the first few months. We all had our babies within 2 1/2 weeks of each other and went through a lot together. Now many of us are back at work we see less of each other, but we still keep in touch and catch up once a month or so. Our lo's are all friends too.
Hope this helps. We won't be taking classes again, but I will enquire if we can pay a fee to just be a member, as it will get me in to baby groups and the like locally, and it would be nice to make some contacts with mums of other babies the same age.

I never heard of them while expecting dd and have now heard of them from mn but thats all. Don't know what they do/offer etc..

TBH don't feel like I'm missing out either..!

A colleague took me to one side when she found out I was pregnant and advised me to "join the NCT as you get a much better class of mummy there for chats and coffee" . I didn't btw.

Message withdrawn

I remember my dh's face when we went to the first NCT class, and had to start throwing a teddy bear at each other!

I have to say it didn't work terribly well for us, but then I am probably the only mother of two who never learned how to breathe properly in labour!