NCT or hypnobirthing course

[Pittcuecothecookbook]

Can only afford one. I've booked NCT but could get a refund as more than 4 weeks before the course starts.

Have been looking into hypnobirthing and now wondering whether the course content would be more useful for me than the NCT info. From info on here and from friends/family, everyone rates the friendships rather than the course content from NCT.

I didn't do a hypnobirthing course (I read the beginning of a book- the breathing techniques helped me)

But I did NCT and I just strongly recommend it. I don't know if you can take your partner to hypnobirthing? But we have some great friends from NCT... And actually I found the course content really good, relaxed and fun.

Yes, I can take my partner to hypnobirthing classes. What kind of things dod you cover in NCT, was there much about the birth or mainly about the baby that follows?

We 'learned' about the development of baby, the entire birthing process (all interactive activities), how the body gives birth, breastfeeding, tips for labour (using lighting, music, breathing techniques, back massage - best bit!) Both parents wellbeing ( PND, baby blues etc), finance- SMP, child benefit etc. Services that are available to help you after baby, e.g. lactation consultants, baby weighing clinic, Health visitor.

Personally I'd say you can do hypnobirthing at home with a Cd whereas NCT gets you out and makes you friends :)

From what I have seen on here it heavily depends on your area but I LOVE all my NCT buddies. They have been a lifeline already and I haven't had the baby yet. Plus the partner gets involved which is lovely. It was worth every penny for that. The info was fine-better than no info at all and you always pad it out with a free NHS course or some books...

I've tried nct, waste of money.
My group are all about 7 weeks ahead of me so our babies due months apart. It's very much designed for couples and I'm single so found myself very left out.
Also, they've only run through very basic stuff, I've learnt more on this board than at class.

Not a great fan of Nct. Did the classes and found it very middle class and felt totally left out.
I know people have had good experience but don't see how on a group of say 8 couples you can all be 'great friend' as so many people go on about

I have done NCT. I would recommend it as the classes covered end of pregnancy, labour and the newborn days. DH said he found it hugely helpful as he had no idea what to expect. I found it informative and liked that it explored all different scenarios e.g. what happens/ who is in the room if you have to have an emergency c-section, different pain relief options, potential complications (for mum and baby) and how these could be dealt with e.g. induction, specific info about our local MLU and hospital and so on. There was also some good advice for partners on spotting PND early and how to support recovering/hormonal/exhausted mums, which was brilliant and I know DH referred to the notes on this in the early days when I had the baby blues! I'm not sure a hypnobirthing class would go into as much detail (I may be wrong!).

... ( sorry posted too soon). I found nct very cliquey and dominated by alpha female types.

I did hypnobirthing too and found it really helpful so that I could have a calmer frame of mind. Tbh you can get audio books that you can listen to though if you do want to go ahead with the nct instead.

I’m not doing NCT as I’m a midwife and don’t feel I can justify spending hundreds of pounds to ‘make friends’; and in my experience it’s mostly middle class 30-somethings. We are in our 20s and I don’t feel like we’d have that much in common.

We’re going to do a group hypnobirthing class and possibly a baby first aid or something similar. More for my partner than for me. He’s a lot less knowledgable and feeling a bit lost!

@isitfridayyet1 I absolutely agree it's down to luck on NCT classes. I am fully aware we were very lucky with our group. We're all similar ages and stages and all due within a month of each other. But I wouldn't say we're all middle class. We just all get on well :)

I'm middle class, and in my 30s, so prob target market for NCT but I agree with didntcomehere that couple of hundred quid to make friends doesn't seem a great trade. The nearer I get to giving birth, the more I think that money may be better spent preparing me for the labour bit. It's a hard decision, as if I knew that class would genuinely yield lifelong friends and worthwhile information, I'd probably go for it and do the hypnobirthing online.

Presumably, people are friendly and keep in touch after the hypnobirthing thing too though?

After feedback from friends, I did hypnobirthing classes and went to an NHS antenatal classes group.

We made friends at the hypnobirthing classes and the other couples who went to the NHS classes who had also been to NCT said that pretty much the same stuff was covered so I'm glad we didn't pay for that.

I also don't think I would have taken to hypnobirthing as well as I have if I had just read a book or got a CD to listen to, but that's just me.

That's me too, thecatsmother. I'm not great at self discipline with stuff like that. My yoga mat and pilates ball stuffed in the spare room will attest! Meant to be a total zen yogi by now in pregnancy from following videos online. I can imagine hypnobirthing being the same.

The hypnobirthing classes have said I could pay in 3 equal instalments over 3 months, so I could splurge on both but £250 could pay for the 2nd hand pram I've not purchased yet 🙈

Thecatsmother, did the hypnobirthing help you in labour do you think? Was it successful?

I'll have to let you know.... I'm due any day now!!

It has helped me in stressful situations though, when I've used the breathing techniques, and I'm by far much more calm about the impending birth than most people I speak to who are also waiting on their babies to arrive any day now.

I have two close friends who hyonobirthed, who recommended it to me. Neither of them had any pain relief other than gas and air and both had really positive experiences.

Definitely let me know, and best of luck with it all! You can do this! 💪

I know NCT in general is very popular but I've picked to do a Hypnobirthing course after I'd heard mixed reviews for the NCT in my area.
I was recommended Daisy Foundation by 2 of my clients who said it was amazing ....I'm sure theres other similar hypno-birthing style classes across the UK.

They do a 3 day course which covers lots of practical advice for looking after baby (as well as the hypo-birthing). I believe they cover similar info to what is covered in NCT but condensed down. A few people I know said that my local NCT really dragged out the information and wasted lots of time which put me off.

what area are you in Forever? How did you get feedback for your local NCT, just from people you know?

Thank you Pitt

I wouldn’t sign up for NCT just for friends. I think lots of couples who did them don’t think a couple of hundred pounds is much. It obviously depends on where you are in the country. But in the scheme of things you will spend on your child, it’s nothing. Honestly people pay £300+ for a kids birthday party, and an average family will have to do 2-3 of them a year depending on the number of kids you got. It is definitely aimed at 30 something middle classes.

If you feel hypnobirthing will prepare you better then go for that. If you think NCT then do that instead. You can make friends in baby groups too.

@Pittcuecothecookbook I work with pregnant ladies, so gained lots of feedback from those who had already attended my local NCT. Some enjoyed it but many of them said it was a waste of money. I know two people who didn't bother going back after the first session! Quite a few of them mentioned that the sessions dragged and could have been condensed down to half the time.

I initially booked NCT but then cancelled once I spoke with The Daisy Foundation. I haven't done the hypnobirthing yet but from what I read I felt like it was more suited to me.

Don't waste your money with NCT.. you can pretty much google everything.

If it is just to make fiends then that's a very expensive way to make them.

Good luck with everything and congrats on the baby x

Also to say I felt that lessons were too dragged out and in comparison to nhs class which lasted 1,5 hours one evening I learnt more from that.

Hypnobirthing is brilliant, I had an elective section as did SIL and we still found all the breathing techniques really useful, especially as they were doing spinal.

NCT I didn’t do, the only offered the more intensive classes in my area, DH couldn’t make the classes with work and I knew I was having a section. I may have been totally wrong but based on the experiences of friends and the course programme, I thought it would be all vaginal birth based and very critical of any birth plan that included pain relief.

I did both. Found the hypnobirthing classes very useful however, ultimately ended up having an EMCS by which time I was a bit of an emotional wreck and everything I had leArnt went out of the window.
Enjoyed the nct classes and learnt a lot about caring for a baby plus it was good to have a support group of new mums and dads to see through those night feeds and share worries with during the first year.

If I was to be a first time parent again I think I’d choose nct classes as they were very practical plus the support of other classmates during those first few months was very valuable.

I think it very much depends on you and your circumstances. I had the same questions when I was pregnant, and I decided to do NCT and then just buy the hypnobirthing CD's to work through with my husband. I was sceptical about hypnobirthing but I found it very useful in my last trimester for keeping my mind calm, when I was feeling anxious about the birth. However, during labour, everything I learnt went out the window!

NCT however was worth every penny. It's true that the content isn't always that extensive but it was enlightening and it does make you consider things you hadn't thought about before. But honestly, the real reason it was worth it for me, was gaining that support network.

At the time, I didn't think I would click with the people in our group, and I thought it was nice to meet them, but we probably wouldn't stay friends... but something happens when you have a baby, and there are other people around you in the exact same boat, going through the exact same thing at the same time... you really bond... and there's nothing like being able to whatsapp some-one at 2am who's also struggling with breastfeeding when everyone else you know is asleep.

I don't have any family close by, and my friends just weren't going through the same thing, so it really made a big difference to me, especially in that first year of maternity leave. Apart from supporting each other through the difficulties, it's nice having a few "in-built" mum friends that you can do things with. Out of 8, I've stayed close with 2 and our kids are now real friends. I didn't think I would get that much out of NCT, (I was also sceptical about the course content!) but in hindsight, I'm so grateful I did it.

Before you give birth, you're so worried about it, that's all you can focus on... but I actually found the recovery and all the things you struggle with when you have a newborn harder to deal with than the birth itself, so the support network really helps in the weeks and months after the birth.

If you're worried about preparing for labour, I would recommend looking into any antenatal courses that your hospital offers (they are usually free on NHS) - I did my hospital's antenatal course, and that really helped ease my mind a lot. Also, I would recommend water birth for pain relief... even if you don't want to deliver in the water, just labouring in the water helps!

Sorry - I know I've rambled on a bit now, but hopefully you'll find some of it useful :)