NCT classes - are they worth it?

[peanuthead]

Just got the NCT bumf through and a bit horrified at the £200 charge - are they worth doing or can we get away with the NHS ones?

I didn't think the NHS did classes anymore.

I made some really good friends at my NCT classes and we learnt a lot. They were good fun too. Pricey though.

I thought it was worth it, especially because I was planning an at home pool labour / birth.
DP came too (and my bf birth partner!). It gave me loads of confidence, brought up issues that we hadn't thought of to talk through, re-assured DP, and most importantly enabled us to meet and get to know other couples who were expecting babies at exactly the same time. Some of these have been good friends ever since.

Some of the material was a bit idealistic, evangelistic (I felt they mixed up thier campaign role and their teaching individual women role a bit much...our teacher urged me to try and persuade other members of the group to go for a home birth - I had no intention of any such thing, they were intelligent women who had minds of their own!), but there was so much time to ask questions and think - very good preparation for first timers.

I didn't go to NCT. Was put off by the fact that they are not medically trained. Loved my NHS classes. Made fab friends and we all had natural births. A friend of mine who was pregnant at the time did NCT and 8 out of 9 of them had c sections. Felt quite smug because they were all talking about breathing out the baby but when it came to it they all needed more.

You'd get away with the NHS ones.

Our NCT classes were a bit of a waste of time, the woman who ran them was lovely but very airy-fairy, so we didn't actually get as far as second stage, and I was clueless when it came to giving birth.

Maybe it was just our teacher at fault rather than the NCT itself, but we were given the impression that there is an "NCT Way" to give birth and feed a baby, and everything else is wrong. It was very idealistic, which can lead to people feeling bad if they don't manage to attain the "ideal" birth.

There was almost no information available about any kind of assisted birth - c-sections weren't covered, and the only references to such things as induction, forceps or ventouse deliveries were very negative - plenty of horror stories but nothing positive. So we all felt under huge pressure to have the "perfect" birth - no intervention, no assisted delivery, and even pain relief was frowned upon. I ended up having an emergency c-section and when we all met up with the leaders after we'd had our babies, I felt that I was somehow pitied for not having a "proper" birth.

Their stance is very pro-breast feeding as well - as am I - but with my first I wanted to understand as much as possible about feeding and to be prepared for every eventuality, but when I asked questions about formula feeding I was treated very frostily and although there was plenty of information about breast feeding, there was no information or support for anyone who chose to formula feed. I was simply told that every woman can breast feed, and it's laziness that makes them want to do otherwise. Which made the four members of our group who couldn't/didn't want to breast feed feel really good.

We made some friends from the NCT classes, and that was their biggest benefit to us. But it was a lot of money to pay out for the privilege!

Hmmm. We were told, in a way which seemed to set a standard we shoud aspire to, of a woman who had a forceps delivery with no pain relief...

I just made sure I kept my own perspective on the 'ideal birth' aspect and would not allow myself to think I ould have 'failed' if i needed any help of any kind whatsoever.

I remember one day we practised different positions, and DP and my bf were utterly wimpy and hopeless and kept dropping me, so I said it couldn't be done. The teacher got the policeman and the huge rugby playing hooray to hold me in the suggested position and said 'there you are, no problem!'...as if either would be with me in labour!

I'd go just for the chance to make some friends. Take what you want from the classes themselves and leave teh rest at the delivery room door

I am still in regular contact with my NCT group some 9 years later and we practically lived at each other's houses during the first 4 months of our babies lives, which was a sanity saver for me

oh I can't decide. DH really doesn't want to pay it as we had fertility treatment and he's decided that's enough paying and I've been off work with morning sickness for 2 months so I've got no money of my own...

The main thing is meeting people - i'm in london and don't know anyone in this area really and can't stand the thought of being stuck here with a baby for months on my own.

I think my main problem with their idealistic teaching wasn't so much that it could have made me feel a failure (it didn't, I'm much too well-balanced for that!) but that I wasn't prepared for anything other than that idealised "natural" birth. If I hadn't been reading up elsewhere I wouldn't have even known what a ventouse was. And given that two out of the six women had c-sections, it might have been nice to have looked at caesarean delivery, even if only in the broadest terms.

As a way of learning about childbirth it was a bit - incomplete.

Yes for the friends you make, but not really for the information as you can get it by researching stuff anyway. If you are economically challenged, I think you can ask them to waive the fee. Also, you don't have to join up with the NCT in order to attend their classes. £200 sounds like a lot. Ours was about £74 plus £30 odd membership fee.

oh plus the fact that the only classes we can go to (I booked a holiday in the middle of them) aren't actually in my area they're 2 bus rides away so not sure if I'd be hanging out with people over there anyway.

Ack, £200 is the maximum charge. What part of London are you in? I know our branch charges rather a lot less than that.

My NHS classes were great, I felt well prepared. They were factual, focused and very little talk about how you feel about such and such - a friend of mine who did NCT classes hated the "touchy feely" nature of her NCT class. Another pal came away with the impression that if you breathe properly you can give birth with no pain relief . I didn't pal up with anyone but that's ok coz I was lucky to have 3 friends who were pregnant at more or less the same time as me and have a lot of family around. I think it depends on what sort of learner and person you are and what you hope to get out of them.

Peanut - then definitely join.

We made deep bonds with the other couples, gave each other vital support during the first difficult weeks, and had plenty of comapny for maternity leave. It was a lifesaver. The, we continued to meet every week, with the children who all became friends, and it was the core of our parenting social circle. It was such a shock once DPs paternity leave ended, the front door closing and me sitting alone on the sofa with DS. I saw other members of the group - and/or the supplemntary tea group , every day. But the tea groups take longer to get established - your ante-natal class peple are on the phone the day after you get home...I was on the phone to one of them while I was in labour, asking her advice (she had dome it 3 weeks earlier!!)

I had NO other friends who were having a baby at the same time as me. The 'in it together' feeling was a huge help.

Re. making friends. You can access any of the NCT pre and post natal groups without having to be a member.

There might be a small charge (50p per coffee morning in this area).

I did my classes in nearyby area, but haven't kept in contact at all with any of my group.

However, I meet up with new friends I've met through a different NCT branch at least twice a week.

I have to say, I found the NCT classes incredibly useful. I felt more relaxed because I was well informed about my options and possiblities during childbirth. However, I think it depends entirely on the teacher. Ours covered C sections, ventouse, forceps etc in a lot of detail. Yes, they do go into breastfeeding in detail, but our teacher told us that there are restrictions in place from the World Health Organisation(?) about how much they can say about bottle feeding.

Oh, missed the 2 bus-rides business.

Can you go on a waiting list? Or do they do 'intensive' courses? Or is there another type of course near you? I did a Breathing Course and other people did a pregnancy yoga course every week and got to know people.

My NCT classes were fun and gave me and DH something to focus on and made baby a bit more real to him i think. However, come delivery time...all out of the window, dh was clueless but all was lovely. so, not vital, bit preachy, good fun, nothing you cant get in a book. x

I thought the NCT classes were definitely worth it. I learned sod all from the NHS classes (I learned more from dw telling me what she'd been reading on mumsnet).
Probably depends on the NCT person (and the NHS midwife) but I'm glad we did it.

I did NCT and made some lovely friends. The content however I found lacking and didn't take account of the knowledge/desires of the group. For example the breastfeeding. We spent ages talking about why you should breastfeed - we all knew why we should a five minute recap would have done with the focus being on the more practical elements and some of the challenges that we may face. I also found that the focus was on the birth and personally I would have liked more about life after the birth.

Would I do it again, yes I think I would because of the wonderful friends I made. That said it is a lot more expensive now - not sure how they justify this? Perhaps someone from NCT could comment?

It may have changed, but I do agree with Stressteddy that they do tend to focus on a natural birth and breastfeeding and lets face it giving birth isn't always like this.

Good point MoopyMoo. DH learned loads and it made him a great supporter during labour.

He did behave really badly at times during the classes though, when things got too serious.

During a conversation about Csections, the teacher told us that if we were having a planned section, we might be able to take along some music that we wanted to listen to.

My dh suggested..... "The first cut is the deepest"!

We did NCT classes as they did evening ones...my DH works away so couldnt do the daytime NHS ones...i went on my own to these though anyway. I was initially worried about the 'poshness' of the NCT ones, was convinced it would be full of posh stuck up women.

NCT classses turned out to be fab, nice relaxed atmosphere, other couples were all lovely (6 couples in total) and we have all stayed in touched, and ive become v. close friends with 3 of the other girls. Worth the money for this alone. Ours were about £100 i think (not london though) but i thought you could pay less if you couldnt afford them.

Our classes covered pain relief (lots of talk about ladders, taking it step by step according to how you feel) and we also had one class about c-sections, i missed the class where she discussed instrument deliveries as my Ds was 2 weeks early (i was sailing close to the wind with my dates!). Was invited to take DS along to the final class...was lovely.

I had an emergency c-section and the class was great prep as she had shown us how many people would be int eh theatrre (about 12 ) on the day i defo felt this pre warning made it a less overwhelming experience.

Sorry for long post but would defo recommend especially from the meeting people side. Maybe you could discuss with thet teacher class content to guage how airy-fairy it may/may not be??

PS...our teacher also had a knitted uterus and placenta as props (her mum had done them)...that does sound mad but they were great!

If the main thing for you is meeting people, maybe you could get in touch with your local NCT branch and see if they have any "bumps and babies" coffee mornings in your area? They're for pregnant women or those with young babies to meet up and make friends without necessarily joining the NCT.

I haven't read the whole thread, but I would recommended NCT classes, or at least joining the NCT to meet people and get support. Their good as new sales are great too!

Our class was under £100 and was for about 5 or 6 sunday afternoon sessions, which seemed good value for money. There was an optional breast-feeding class, so they weren't too pushy. All pain relief and assisted deliveries were discussed, with pros and cons, and we covered the first 6 weeks after birth and had practice dolls to put to bed, dress, change etc! The breathing techniques were useful, but positions went out of the window when i got too tired and went for a lie down on the bed!

I wouldn't rely on Nhs- our was just a few hours one sat, and didn't learn anything.

My NCT 'teacher' was great after the delivery. I could email her to 'talk' through the delivery which wasn't a good experience and also talk about how I was feeling.

We sent her photos of our DD and how she looked after the rotational ventouse and a day later, which she used in her classes to show how quickly babies can recover from ventouse delivery, as we were quite shocked at how sore her head was.

Once we'd had our babies, we would meet up every week until people started going back to work- a really good support network.

Our NHS classes were brilliant. We did 6 weeks one evening a week, but they now do weekend classes as well. Covered everything you needed to know and more, including a tour of the maternity unit and the midwives were wonderful and it was good fun. DH really enjoyed them as well. I went to some NCT coffee mornings after DS was born and met people through these as well. I had a friend who went to the NCT classes and she felt they were a waste of time. Just her opinion though. I'd look into the NHS classes and see what they offer. I'd definately recommend them.

Our NHS ones were brilliant. DH came as well and the couples that were in our group were all due within a month of each other. We still see each other with the kids and hev nights out together too and always take the kids for the day together around their b'days
I never even looked at the NCT ones
think about what else you could do with that money

I'm even more confused now!

so if you just join nct you can still go the local groups etc and they invite you along? you don't have to go to the classes? that would make much more sense.