Anyone done NCT zoom recently?

[Whatinthename20]

I am due to start an NCT course next week (evenings) and just wondering how you found it being online? I’m doing it mainly to meet other mums in my area (hopefully)

Do they set you up in a whatsapp group before the course starts, to break the ice a bit? Or after the first session?

Are the sessions quite interactive? Just the thought of introducing myself over zoom and talking about myself makes me cringe a bit😬 (I know that sounds pathetic and it’s inevitable I will have to )

Any feedback would be great to hear, thanks

We had the refresher course over zoom. The leader set up WhatsApp for us beforehand, but I don't know if they all do that.

We did have to introduce ourselves over zoom, but just names and the age of our eldest child and our due date.

The leader was great at making it feel sociable and relaxed. I'm very, very glad we ignored our doubts and signed up. The support is even more valuable at this time.

I started Zoom NCT last week. I thought it worked really well. A week before we started they set up a WhatsApp group where we started chatting and introducing ourselves. The course leader also sent over some slides for us to have a look at in advance before the class.
The first class was fully interactive. We did activities where couples were paired up in breakout rooms where we could chat about the task (About baby products and equipment) and to get to know each other better. We then all joined back up as a big group to talk about the activity. There was lots of opportunity to talk and everyone had the chance to contribute but there was no pressure to if you didn’t want to. It’s always a bit cringe doing introductions, but you would have to do that in person anyway if it was run as normal.

I’m really glad I didn’t cancel when they moved it to Zoom. I’m really looking forward to this weeks class.

I'm the same, we're starting ours next week and I'm a bit nervous about it, it just seems a bit more cringe doing intros and trying to break the ice on zoom rather than face-to-face..I think it will be harder to strike up conversations?

Yes, have completed the course over Zoom. We weren’t sure after the first session - despite the WhatsApp group we all found it hard to get conversations flowing naturally as only one person could talk at a time. Also, you miss out on the natural ‘side conversations’ you might have with people when you arrive or as you’re leaving.
The mums made an effort to meet up though after the course was finished and that was a really good idea. We are all still in touch via a separate WhatsApp group now - two out of six have had their babies, four left to come out!
So I would say don’t be shy about suggesting meeting up or starting conversations on the group - it’s what pretty much everyone is there for, to meet other people like them.

@Whatinthename20
We've just finished our NCT course on Zoom. It's been really good, the leader set up the WhatsApp group about 2 weeks beforehand. We did meet up as a group (initiated by one of the couples) in a pub garden which was a really lovely way to have some of those conversations you might ordinarily have in the tea break on the face to face course. We were planning on doing this again until the 6 guidance came in.

They used breakout rooms on zoom to split us into smaller groups for discussions etc and the leader made sure she swapped round who was in which rooms.

I think now they've been doing the classes virtually for a while the course leaders are great at making the most of the situation.

We had considered not continuing with the course when we found out it would be virtual as like you we were doing it to meet other local new parents but I'm so pleased we decided to stick with it!

Sorry to jump on your post,I've been thinking about signing up to an NCT class. What kind of things do you go through? Do you learn a lot or did you find it mostly useful for meeting other parents?

I've don't hypnobirthing so feel ok with the labour sides of things but FTM is not clue about looking after a baby once they're born.

Any help would be great thanks

Hi @rainbows20

You do cover labour and birth, but then you also look at looking after baby, breastfeeding, sleep, etc. These are obviously all things you could look up but it was handy to be able to ask questions straight away, and then there’s the social side as people have said.
I wouldn’t say it’s absolutely essential but if you have the spare cash and also are interested in meeting other parents then go for it.

@Pipperleen That's great thank you very much I will look more into it