NCT or NHS classes

[Sweetheartyparty76]

Hi,
I am 23 weeks pregnant with my first baby and would like to do some classes to help me prepare for birth and motherhood. I would also like to make some friends as I don't want to feel isolated during maternity leave.
There are NCT classes I can do but they cost around £200. We are renovating our kitchen and with baby stuff to buy, we are not exactly rolling in it but I can economise if it's worth it.
I had a midwife assistant visit and she mentioned that the NHS also do classes and she will give me the information when she visits at 30 weeks.
Has anyone done both? Which was better? X

For me Nct were much better as the group was so much smaller than my NHS class which had about 100 people in it. Made a real difference actually getting to know the other couples and it was really useful for dh too. We're all still in contact now.

I'm glad I did both though as the midwife gave us useful info such as taxi companies that took women in labour and when to come in etc.

I did both. The NTC course was mostly much better and the Mummy friends I have made are priceless. The NHS breast feeding session was much better but our area has pulled the funding for that.

NCT is good for meeting people
If you are on a low income then you may be able to get a discounted rate on the classes
Otherwise you can just join the NCT - lots of areas do weekly coffee meet ups so you can meet other mums without doing the classes

I did NCT. I'm still friends with most of my group 5 years on, and it was absolutely invaluable in terms of support, detailed learning and long term friendships.

I prefer he Nhs classes and didn't really "gel" with my NCT group!! I made my lasting friends at the Surestart / church hall tyke my and baby groups.

I found the NCT classes a waste of money , I never even went back on the second day it was so boring

Wouldn't recommend them I personally wish I'd just gone to the free ones at my doctors

I couldn't afford the NCT classes and the NHS don't fund classes in our area. I found a local midwife who ran a group local to me which I went to and found very helpful as did DH.

I did the NHS class. There were 4 couples in our group, 2 of which I am still in contact with (coincidently both our fb and sb were born days apart! )

I wanted to do some sort of antenatal classes other than the NHS ones, but didn't want to pay the price of NCT. I'm 20 weeks and have just booked the Daisy Foundation Birthing classes after a friend said she was doing them at the same time. I paid £66 for 6 weeks of classes at 1.5hrs per week...just another option to look into :) xx

NCT classes are the ones with the reputation for making lasting friendships and they do what they can to encourage them, whereas the NHS ones can vary on content and how well they are run; you're also likely to see different people at each one and there is no focus on making friends.

Thanks everybody. I'm still none the wiser as it seems that both nct and NHS classes vary quite drastically. I wish we could try out an nct class without being under obligation to go to the rest. I will definitely look at the Daisy birthing classes wickerhearts. That seems much more reasonable x

You can go to NCT coffee groups, Bumps and Babies groups and Early Days classes without doing the antenatal classes. All are much cheaper!!

I thought they were much more reasonable...

thedaisyfoundation.com

Worth a look if nothing else, I hear they're fairly small groups too which is nice. Have to take a look at the venues and see if they do a class in your area xx

You can go to all of the NCT groups without being a member, but do expect to find lots of groups within the group of mothers who met during their NCT classes. At least, that is my experience and whilst they are friendly they have no real desire to make friends outside of their little groups.

both- nct much more detailed as day long sessions with role play and enough time for 2 way discussions/queries. NHS good but couple hours duration, covered the topics at speed and no time to discuss reallytalked, we listened. It served as a recap of nct info. Antenatal was a distance for us so couldn't meet up with the mums to be postnatally. Joined local nct group when on mat leave, went to coffee mornings once a week and met other pg ladies and lots with young babies- really worthwhile and built up a good network. Got real idea of what parenthood was like being surrounded by mums and little babies from the coffee group. Do all 3 if you can or NHS antenatal plus go to local nct coffee mornings

Our nhs ones are during day and not for partners. The nct ones were brilliant for dh to have an understanding of birth and to get to know other dads. The first few months having a network of mums going through sleep deprivation etc was amazing. I didn't have the inclination to be going out of my way to get to know people at that time and over the summer all groups stop so that wouldn't have been an option. It could have been very isolating. 2 years on still meet up with several mums weekly. For me and dh definitely worth prioritising

Nct isnt the only private pregnancy class. I did a local one. Seems very good. No idea re nhs as not been offered it.