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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Is NCT worth it?

77 replies

artisticat · 31/10/2017 14:32

I've heard good things about NCT classes for meeting other Mums and gaining a support network in your area.

Being the first out of my friends to have a baby this could be invaluable, I have one friend due 5 weeks after me, but she lives an hour away, so I was set on doing NCT..

Until I saw the price... £352! Is it worth it? It seems like a lot of money, we could afford it but obviously don't want to spend unnecessarily when there's so many things we need to get for baby and do in the house etc.

All opinions appreciated!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

ClaireBear1986 · 01/11/2017 11:55

The Daisy Birthing Classes in our area seem to be women only, and don't want to exclude my partner.
I've done a lot of research over the last month and there doesn't really seem to be any other classes offered in our area.

Think I'm just going to bite the bullet and book NCT!!

star1980 · 01/11/2017 16:36

I've been thinking this recently. I'm in Walthamstow and doing the antenatal classes at homerton - the class is great but I think all the people there are based in Hackney. I think I'd rather spend my money on other things like hypnobirthing and yoga and try and make friends through those rather than pay so much to nct literally just for friends. With my friends who have done it there's a real mix between those who've met great friends and those whose group just didn't click. I think I'd need more to justify the money.

TheMogget · 01/11/2017 16:44

I find the idea of essentially paying £££ to make some Mummy friends a bit odd and we opted not to, not helped that our ‘local’ class was in fact not local so even if we had made friends they’d have been in the wrong place.
I went to local baby and toddler group, rhyme time at library, buggy walks etc. We were busy pretty much every day.

Some swear by it, but not for me!

welshweasel · 01/11/2017 16:51

We did the essentials course, purely to make friends (I'm a doctor and was having an elective section so not interested in most of the information). Best money I ever spent. Obviously it depends if your group get on but I saw mine pretty much every day during mat leave and we still chat daily via WhatsApp and meet up regularly 2 years on.

MuffinMcDuffin · 01/11/2017 20:37

In addition to my previous post I’d say it’d be best if you could be as local to you as possible; all of my group lives within two miles, so walking distance.

ibuiltahomeforyou · 01/11/2017 20:50

I highly recommend NCT. This week alone:

one of the other mums locked her baby in the car and another Mum drove to her house to collect a spare key to rescue said baby!
I babysat one of the babies for a whole day while his mum did a KIT day at work
four of us met for coffee with our babies
three of us took the babies to an Nct Halloween party and for a walk together

They are all coming round to my house on Sunday too for fireworks.

We see lots of each other, we are each others’ support network as we’re in London without family. Out of six couples, four of us regularly catch up. I’d go for the closest one to your house, and if you can afford it just do it. I’ve really enjoyed making new friends in my area.

wasMissD · 01/11/2017 20:56

There are so many free groups that your HV will tell you about where you can meet local mums.
I personally didn't go to any classes. I didn't fancy it at all as nothing happens to plan with a baby!

CoolGirlsNeverGetAngry · 01/11/2017 21:01

I loved it and made some really good friends. I appreciate that the cost can seem a tad steep and I did think twice about it at the time given that we were due to be living without my income! Perhaps see if you can find any reviews of your local classes before you sign up. Ours was quite erm... “Natural” and that didn’t suit everyone in the group (I.e. people who knew they would want pain reliefor maybe not bf).

harrietm87 · 02/11/2017 08:39

@star1980 sorry to hijack but are the homerton classes any good? I'm having my baby there (17 weeks atm) but have just moved from Hackney to newham so wondering whether it's worth it for the same reasons.

2014newme · 02/11/2017 08:45

No I made great friends at the NHS antenatal classes and the post natal classes and they are run by midwives who actually deliver babies not enthusiastic amateurs

2014newme · 02/11/2017 08:46

Still friends 10 years old with my NHS antenatal we just had a party fir the kids birthdays

Picklepickle123 · 02/11/2017 08:50

I didn't do an NCT class because my area got booked up very early (I think when I was 6 months' pregnant) - I really regretted it because by the time it got to baby yoga/playgroups everyone seemed to have their own friends and cliques and it was much harder to make mummy friends.

PotatoesPastaAndBread · 02/11/2017 08:50

Personally I didn't learn a lot as I knew a lot from reading and from friends, but NCT classes had three benefits for me:

Chance to meet people - met several new mums very local to me having babies at same time. We have no friends or family so close so useful.
Even though I knew stuff, was an opportunity to discuss things with DH or for him to learn stuff without me telling or nagging him, and meant he dedicated to it and really engaged in thinking things through
Meant DH could meet dads, discuss stuff with them and now they keep in touch too

So I think it was worth it for us

Oly5 · 02/11/2017 08:59

It was worth the price to meet other mums to hang around with on maternity leave.. but I found the classes rubbish and they completely skated over complications in birth and how hard breastfeeding is (they just telll you to do it)

Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 02/11/2017 09:08

OP if you live in Walthamstow I would seriously consider paying the extra and doing NCT there. I also live in Walthamstow, chose not to do NCT, and regretted it in the early days when trying to make mum friends. Alternatively there is an NCT person you can email who will group you together with other women having babies at the same time, I definitely should have done this.

As you know this is a very diverse area, and baby groups tend to fragment along language/cultural lines (I am not saying this is right, but it is what happens). If you fit the usual NCT demographic, then not doing NCT can leave you a bit isolated as their group is already formed.

Having said that I've made very good friends, but had to travel slightly out of area to do it, which then means more travel every time we meet.

DaisyLand · 02/11/2017 09:10

im not planning on attending the, saw the price and found daisy birthing much more cheaper. Also I'm planning on going back around 6 months into maternity leave so wont be able to socialize for long with people. If i want friends found a few activities for newborns where we live so will attend those

star1980 · 02/11/2017 09:10

Another thing putting me off nct which is a bit judgemental, but also slightly strengthened by the cost, is: is it a bit overly middle class? If I end up doing pregnancy yoga and hypno-birthing as well, will I find myself in this bubble of middle class mums with no normal mum friends locally?!

@harrietm87, I've just done the first homerton class so far and it was great! The midwife who runs it is really knowledgable (obvs) and knows the facilities/what's available at the hospital. I'd recommend it for the class, but I'm quite quiet and didn't really talk to anyone but everyone seemed really nice!

star1980 · 02/11/2017 09:16

@Tawdrylocalbrouhaha when you say nct demographic do you mean white middle class? I live in Walthamstow and am not white, but most of my friends and my partner is white so I'm kind of desperate to diversify my circle a bit. Do you think the local baby groups would be good for that or too cliquey as you say? (I'm also Walthamstow based)

Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 02/11/2017 09:16

Star1980 yes, it is overly middle class - the true function of the NCT is middle class bum sniffing for social suitability. Which I don't like either. BUT...if everyone else is playing that game and you don't, then it can leave you floundering a bit.

star1980 · 02/11/2017 09:18

Cross-posted with you there tawdry! You've confirmed my suspicions! I think I'll leave it - so many options to meet yet more middle class older mums, I'll save the money

Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 02/11/2017 09:26

Not white (definitely in Walthamstow) but middle class, university educated, own your home, job that either pays well or is creative, hypnbirthing, doulas, etc etc.

The local groups are not cliquey in an unfriendly way - everyone is friendly. But in terms of progressing to actual friendship it helps to have at least language in common. It's a bit hard to explain, but I found the level of diversity was such that it was difficult to find common ground. If you live near the Toy Library or The Limes those groups would probably suit you, but even there the NCT posses tended to arrive as a fixed entity.

openscanofworms · 02/11/2017 17:08

@2014newme
Your post makes me sad. NCT teachers are not amateurs - they are highly trained. I’ve looked at the website to check. My experience of midwives is great but my NHS group was so big it was difficult to make connections. I went to NCT classes and I was lucky that we had a lovely group
of people and we’re friends 10 years on.
I found the info and the way the NCT courses ran was so much better than the NCT ones.

MonkeyJumping · 02/11/2017 19:15

NCT teachers are trained by the NCT, they absolutely are amateurs compared to NHS midwives.

Rebeccaslicker · 02/11/2017 19:28

My NCT teacher was a former midwife, now doula and NCT teacher.

The classes were good, but it was the mum friends going through exactly what I was at the same time that I found so key. Even your best friend/mum/sister doesn't want a text about cracked nipples or funny coloured poo or green projectile vomit at 3am! But your NCT group will be up and dealing with the same things. That WhatsApp group was a real godsend in the first few weeks, as were all the meet ups when you're a bit isolated and it's all new.

Some of my friends made their new best friends via NCT. We aren't like that but we do stay in touch a lot and went to a party together at the weekend for one of the toddler's birthdays.

Purely personally, I think it was well worth it.

2014newme · 02/11/2017 19:48

@openscanofworms NCT teachers may have never attended a birth! Of course they're amateurs they aren't delivering babies every day like midwives, or in fact at all.
If that makes you sad then that's a shame! Sure they're lovely people but they are not experienced in babies being born except their own unless they have priorityr experience in a different role

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