Did anyone not do NCT/Antenatal classes?

[Raaaa]

It comes up a lot on MN, 'in my NCT group', I just wondered if I'm in the minority, I didn't do anything - no classes pre or post, no hospital tour, anyone else out there the same?

I didn’t either and I haven’t regretted it. I did other baby groups and met friends with other similar aged children though

No I don’t really get it. I don’t get the books either.

Nope. First time round, DS was so premature that he was born before my booked NCT classes started. Second time I just didn't bother (as I had done it before anyway)

And I wasn't fussed with baby classes either time.

No, I was put off with how cliquey NCT sounded. It seemed the WhatsApp groups after birth were more the goal than the classes themselves. Not really my bag.

Went to one of the free antenatal classes at the hospital before they were cancelled because of covid. More for info rather than for networking with other mums.

I didn't do any classes with both dd's.

To be honest after the first class at the hospital I wasn't really bothered about going back to the others if they hadn't been cancelled.

No. We did the Positive Birth Company online course instead. Found out that we had a lot of acquaintances with babies a similar age to ours after our LO arrived.

Nope. I did no antenatal stuff aside from scans and MW appointments. Didn't do classes after baby arrived either.

No. Went to one ante natal class where the midwife told us what to pack in our hospital bag. Then had further complications with my already difficult pregnacy and spent the next few weeks in hospital. Well, weekdays. I was allowed home at weekends when dh could be with me, but had to be back at the hospital by 7pm on the Sunday evening. Anyway, despite not attending classes, I somehow managed to give birth to dc1 and then, a couple of years later, dc2.

Urgh. I did nothing.

Facts are available online or in books.

And friends aren't made just because you fucked at the same time

Nope not done any of the classes, I did download the positive birthing course but its bored me to death, I find it an actual chore watching it 😂

I didn't do NCT but did the hospital antenatal classes (they started a week late then me and two other missed the last one as our babies had arrived). The ante natal class didn't include the hospital visit you had to do that independently.
The whole NCT thing wasn't for me and having met some of friends/families groups I don't regret my decision. I hate cliques and competitive parenting.
I met some people at a post natal group and a baby massage course who were a good source of support at the time but we lost touch as we didn't really have anything in common.

I did and did not get on with my NCT group at all. I did do lots of baby classes though and made my best mum friends organically.

I wont be bothering this time round, though I will take a tour if they are running by November.

I did do not and it was a waste of money. Didn't have anything in common with the others and we've drifted apart by 3years.

I think it depends on your current friendship group. My husband and I have a long-standing friendship group from school days (in fact, some of our mums first met one another through NCT back in the day), but I was the first person in our group to get pregnant, and was looking for new ways to make friends anyway as I was in a new city and working from home, so didn't have many opportunities to make friends before getting pregnant.

I don't regret doing NCT at all - we are all still close friends and we freely admit that we all did it for the whatsapp group and that's probably why we all made the effort to get to know one another and keep the friendships going.

But if you already have a good group of friends, maybe including someone who already has a baby, or if you don't feel you need any new friends, or you feel confident about making friends in other settings, then don't think you NEED to do any classes for the knowledge. You can get that info easily elsewhere.

Nope! Too expensive, and full of poshos.

NCT has outlived its original purpose and now seems to be an expensive way to meet people who spark one’s insecurities. (Fwiw, I didn’t do NCT myself.)

I didn't. I got the impression they were very superior and cliquey.

No
Didn't manage to get in any baby groups afterward either
Friend (who doesn't have kids) seemed very very concerned that I wasn't going to any classes , kept sending me links to local classes even though she lives in another country
She said ' you can't google everything' hmmmm just watch me

Nope. Sounded bloody awful to my mind. I already had 'mum friends' in my existing social circle so I didn't see the need in paying to make new ones.

Plus I was having an elective c section so didn't really need to go to any antenatal groups as I had no intention of ever being in actual labour ever again.

I'd rather stick rusty pins in my eyes than have done NCT classes

Had a 2 hour session with private midwife which was fab, went through baby stuff. My ELCS was booked pretty early on.

Never read a book about it all either, only Gina Ford after birth

My brother and his partner did nct and the social aspect of it seemed way too intense for me. They had reunion BBQs nearly every weekend and also did lots of sensory and swimming classes together after the babies were born. Personally I didn't want to be obliged to be bffs with someone just because we had a baby in the same month of the year. I'm really not as anti social as I sound though. I'm not apposed to attending a class and making chit chat while I'm there, as some adult interaction would be nice, but I just wasn't looking for or needed a ready made friendship group. My sil is a very friendly and sociable person however so that kind of group really worked for her. Not my cup of tea though. In the end I never did any classes. My brother's experience with the nct put me off doing any. I don't feel I missed out, as between my midwife appointments, feeding adviser and the internet I felt I've learnt everything I needed to know. The only thing I wish I could have done was the tour of the birth center. Which the midwife told me about when I had my first blood test. I never heard anymore about after that, I guess it was cancelled because of the Coronavirus.

No antenatal classes or hospital tour, no baby classes either. Not my kind of thing at all!

Also no antenatal classes, hospital tour or baby classes. I'd rather saw off my own leg TBH. I'm not made to sit around saying hello to the corn and singing the wheels on the bus. I had a baby, not a personality transplant

I had a post-partum doula come into help me with the baby/show me how to not accidentally kill him, and hired a lactation consultant when breastfeeding went badly.

I didn't as I didn't need them at all. The age gap between my siblings and I is big, 10 years between my brother and I and 20 years between my sister and I. Because I was so involved when they were babies, especially my sister, I felt like I'd already had children. I just did everything the same way my mum did. I had the full time experience of babies without having my own, so I knew I didn't need classes to tell me how to look after a baby.