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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

NCT vs NHS antenatal classes

18 replies

Claire582 · 15/08/2018 20:06

I am 16 weeks pregnant and starting to think about antenatal classes starting around November time (apparently Nct ones fill up quickly!) what are people's thoughts on NCT vs NHS? I know Nct can be expensive, but is it worthwhile? We have recently moved to a new area so looking to meet friends as well, so that bit of it is important! any advice greatly appreciated! Xx

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Racecardriver · 15/08/2018 20:09

The classes are purely a socialising opportunity. Obviously the NCT classes attract a certain kind of person (cash to spare, interested in socialising around their children etc) because they cost money. The NHS classes will still have people looking to socialise but you also get people who go for the sake of it, because they are anxious and think that the classes will somehow help them etc.

butlerswharf · 15/08/2018 20:11

I did both last year. The content of the NCT one was poor. The NHS one had much more useful info.

PalePinkSwan · 15/08/2018 20:18

The NHS one was much more useful in terms of info.

The NCT ones really pushed their agenda (vaginal births, minimal pain relief, breastfeeding) to the extent that I was very unprepared for the reality and struggled with guilt about “failing” at all of it.

NCT is useful for making friends, for some people, but obviously it’s potluck. Our group didn’t gel and I never saw them again after the classes.

PalePinkSwan · 15/08/2018 20:19

Local NCT groups often run bump and baby meet ups which you can go to for free and without being a member, so you can meet people that way.

surreygirl1987 · 15/08/2018 20:25

I just did NCT this weekend and I thought it was brilliant! I haven't done the NHS one yet so cant compare but I was very impressed by the in-depth content of the NCT class. I was also pleased that there seemed to be no agenda at all: we learned a lot about formula milk, c sections and lots of pain relief options. Everyone at the course seemed to be between aged 25-35 and professionals but I guess that's down to the cost of the course and perhaps also location (mine is in Surrey). Reading the negative experiences of the above posters I would say may be it's down to the person leading the course? My experience was very positive anyway and I felt it was well worth the money. In terms of socialising, there were 8 couples there and we are all meeting up for dinner next week and loose plans for lunch the week after. I think we were lucky with our group but I do think it is probably pot luck as the above posters suggested.

cakesandphotos · 15/08/2018 20:27

NCT was great for meeting people for us. We still meet at least once a week 7 months down the line but I agree the content isn’t fabulous. We always say we could rewrite it and make it much more useful. The course was £181 here but I know prices vary hugely and to be honest I wouldn’t have paid more than that

Monny1 · 15/08/2018 20:32

I just attended the NHS one. I made friends when l went to the baby group at the local church hall and at baby group at the Family and children centre near me.

NCPuffin · 15/08/2018 21:09

We finished our NCT Signature course just over a week ago. I found it really good content-wise (although I knew a lot already from reading about pregnancy and labour A LOT) and it was delivered really well says the teacher in me All other couples seemed to be middle-class professionals - we are too, but definitely not on quite the same pay level career-wise. We have a good WhatsApp group going, and I really hope to get some friendships out of it!

I think a lot depends on the group and the person delivering the course. We had a different person delivering the breastfeeding session. She was very knowledgeable but clearly had an issue with companies seeking to make money out of formula and did seem rather keen on breastfeeding, although we did talk about bottles etc. I have to say I don't recognise the agenda as described above - we went through a caesarean section in a lot of detail for example. There was one exercise where we looked at a cascade of interventions, resulting in an unplanned caesarean, but that was purely to see what you can do yourself to avoid ending up in that situation. I actually found it quite empowering! I have since done a hypnobirthing course and found there was quite some ovrlap

BlueBug45 · 15/08/2018 21:58

I also just finished an NCT course. Some of the other couples had already done NHS courses but due to the varied backgrounds of the couples involved e.g. there were health professionals, the teacher asked us what we wanted to know about. So the agenda was made to suit us, and this meant we went through straight forward and not straight forward births.

We went through an emergency C-section scenario also, but in our case the scenario was based on it being unavoidable to avoid guilt tripping women who may have to have one as myself and some other ladies made it clear we are categorised as high risk. (Though personally all the women I know who have been categorised as high risk who have needed C-sections have had elective ones.)

I was very worried about the breast feeding session as all babies in my family are mixed fed and a lot of their mums are HCPs who are/have been involved with labour or looking after neonates, luckily it was taken by the same teacher who ran the rest of the course so she was very happy to answer questions about mixed feeding.

She did make it clear there were somethings she wasn't allowed to say as an NCT teacher, so mentioned it from her personal experience as a mother.

Couples in my group mainly went to have someone to talk to a 3am in the morning when the shit hits, as it was clear people had variable levels of practical support.

SockQueen · 15/08/2018 22:02

The NHS course we did was just 2 evenings. It contained some useful information relevant to that particular hospital, so I'm glad we went, but wasn't a social occasion at all. I wouldn't recognise any of the people there if I passed them in the street.

Our NCT group was a lot more sociable, but we probably didn't learn a lot more (difficult for me to judge as I work in obstetrics so knew a lot of technical info anyway). We got on pretty well and met up quite frequently while all on mat leave, but have drifted apart since.

BridgeFarmKefir · 15/08/2018 22:21

We're currently doing our NCT course. The content is ok, as is the leader (not amazing mind you) For me, as we don't know other parents in this area, it's primarily about making friends.

I will say that the content has been pretty balanced - we've talked about epidurals, induction and done a walkthrough of what happens during a c-section. There does seem to be an unfair perception that NCT is very 'woo' - our consultant made a comment yesterday about making sure we're realistic and not taken in by the 'natural' agenda...

stripeytshirt77 · 15/08/2018 22:27

We done NCT I recommend it 100% but I do think it depends on the person that takes it.
Dh found it especially useful.

We were given very balanced information regarding vaginal birth/c section, pain relief/ no pain relief, formula/breast. No personal views pushed on to us.

Original poster

Claire582 · 15/08/2018 22:38

Thank you for your replies everybody! It's very useful to hear both sides. We would mostly be in it for the social side with some useful info thrown in, so I think we may go down the Nct route and potentially do the Nhs classes too as they sound really informative from what people have said xx

OP posts:

IndominousRex · 15/08/2018 22:43

NCT 100% if you want to make friends. I see my group regularly two years down the line and we all text most days.

daphine2004 · 15/08/2018 22:52

NCT here too and three years on we are all in contact. As other posters have said it was generally professional couples and I found our group all to have similar values etc.

Agenda created in group to mret our needs. I always recommend and if you can do both NHS and NCT, why not?! I think the NHS one is Moe W focused on the hospital you’re going to and some type of orientation too.

Didn’t do the NHS one as the timings were really inconvenient.

Good luck with everything.

Katjolo · 16/08/2018 10:54

NCT classes were great. The teacher was very informative. Great bunch of people in the group. The information given was tailored to our needs as a group and very balanced. No agents at all. NHS classes were okay but appeared very rushed to me. Less opportunities to ask questions and mingle with others. I would recommend NCT.

3stonedown · 16/08/2018 10:59

I found the NCT great and informative but it is true that they clearly encourage natural births. Not all middle class professionals in mine, a lot of army so most have moved away now, we still keep in contact but don't really meet up. Of course there are some I'm not so keen on but it was very helpful having people to talk to on that 2am feed who are going through the same thing.

Olive1988 · 17/08/2018 12:18

Our NHS was useless so I'm so glad we did NCT. Lovely to be in touch with all the other parents to be lots from NCT. Highly recommended of you can afford it x

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