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?

Nope, never did any of it.

Nope _ ultimately the money was such a turn off for the small possibility of making mum friends.
Did the council’s 2 hr free class to actually understand more about labour which was fine.
As for mum friends decided very early on it was too difficult, will make effort when my LO starts school!

Haha!! Everybody’s reasons for not doing it sound exactly like me. I didn’t want friends, didn’t want a WhatsApp group etc ...But I ended up doing NCT because I wanted husband to understand about birth and thought that they might tell me how to look after a baby (they didn’t).

I happened to quite like the girls in the class but what really really surprised me was that once I had the baby - I realised these were the only people I knew who were on mat leave at the same time as me and therefore available for walks/catch up Monday-Friday. We do seem to share a bit of a bond and meet up a couple of times a year as a group. So I’m glad I did it. The classes were cringe though and every week we talked about not going...

I didn’t do NCT as I had no desire to be part of a WhatsApp group to make ‘mum friends’. I did however do some much cheaper classes run by a charity and I downloaded the Positive Birth Company’s digital pack which for me was some much more beneficial than the classes I went to.
I will say though that many in my own circle of friends already had little ones and my best friend was pregnant at the same time as me so I felt no need to make mum friends. I already had the support circle I needed.

Thanks for the replies, Exactly the same reasons as me regarding cost, no desire to try and make mum friends, heard the classes were cringey, wanted to just roll with it.
The cut leg off comment and stick rusty pin in eyes about the baby classes made me laugh! I tried a few and it was soooo boring, and my baby wasn't following the class and just crawled off most of the time.

Ooh, I want to know why the classes are cringey now. What goes on? I thought it was all breathing exercises and shit.

I kept getting annoyed with all the options - the NCT seemed to be engaged in some epic middle class gatekeeping (their class was scheduled in like an organic cheese farm in the middle of nowhere with no public transport), and then I started the Positive Birth Company digital pack and literally noped out after the second video. The baby came out perfectly well without them!

To be the voice of dissent on here, my NCT classes were fantastic, not at all cringey , and the women I’ve met there are really really normal. I couldn’t have been without their support in the last few weeks.

I didn't but I regretted it later down the line when so many people I knew told me how their classes had been a lifeline and how the friendship group was amazing. Years after I now know a few practitioners of NCT and from what they tell me of their classes it's not an experience that matches the short NHS classes with a midwife I did in any way. If I was having a first baby all over again I'd do the classes.