Anti-natal classes and elective section?

[slippeddisc]

Hi all, I'm due to have an elective section due to medical reasons on Dec 11th. Friends who have had Vaginal deliveries and went to NHS antu-natal classes or NCT have said there's no point in me going as they mostly concentrate on topics/help with normal deliveries, and that all after care advice, such as Breastfeeding, nappy changing etc will be dealt with whilst I'm in hospital.

I am a first time mum, but my husband has two children from a previous marraige and is very hands on...so unlike me he's not totally clueless.

Is it worth me enrolling in classes or not? Any advice welcome.

i would go. they covered caesearan in mine! When i had the dcs, i never got shown anything in hospital so dont rely on that.

might be worth it for meeting people who live near you and are due to pop around the same time. mine didn't prepare me for birth AT ALL but i met some nice people who i still see.

Thanks ladies, will look into what's available locally.

Hi Slipped disc - have just seen your message on the due dec board too so welcome (I am due 1 dec).
I had an elective c/s with my first birth and knew this was a possibility (had a breech baby) when I attended my NCT classes. You will be lucky to get into an NCT group this late on tbh; however I DO think it is worthwhile attending some sort of classes. I actually found it useful to talk through what happens in a c/s - they did go into quite a lot of detail because so many people end up having them anyway. I also found it useful to speak to someone who had had an elective c/s - one thing you might not realise for example is how many people will be in the room with you at the birth.
Oh and antenatal classes are a great way to meet other mums-to-be!

In terms of the content of the classes, it kind of depends on who's there and who's running it. If you happen on a class where there are others in your situation, you may end up discussing this; equally, the person running the class may be more inclined to discuss caesareans if they have people in the class who are going to have one.

It might be worth phoning whoever's running the class and asking their opinion.

Otherwise, just worth going along to meet other parents-to-be.