NCT courses- any good?

[rieb95]

Hey,

So I've heard about the NCT antenatal courses and was considering signing up for one. But I've heard very mixed reviews of people saying the content itself is poor and they are only really good for making friends...

I don't have any pregnant friends so that would be a bonus but I just wondered what your experiences had been of the courses if you did one ? I don't have much knowledge of looking after a baby so even if they covered things very basically I think it may still benefit me. I just don't want to spend the money if one of the free courses would be just as good 🤷

Thanks for your advice

Hell no
NCT is like an introduction agency for annoying competitive mc mums
No doubt someone will rock up saying they met their bestie in there and it was suuuuuper
i really didn’t like the NCT class, and the near constant braying about their IG life’s and how much they’d given up to be a mom

I think it is very much driven by how competent the leader is so you might be better off asking on your local mums facebook group. Our leader was great (and has actually since left NCT to become a midwife). She gave balanced information about pain relief options as well as recommendations on local hypnobirthing classes for those wanting to go down that route. I felt the mix between vaginal birth and c section was well handled. She covered formula and bottle feeding as well as breast. Not pushy one way or another. I had zero experience with babies and learnt loads in the classes about looking after a newborn (still remember going through the Five Ss at the start to get DD to sleep!)

But i know others in different areas have had a poor experience. So i don't think it can be blanket one way or another.

The group I'm in are nice enough. I cant see us being friends forever but it has been really useful having an instant network until you figure out your own groove.

No good for me in terms of labour/birth education as I ended up having a crash c-section. But I did make a group of friends there who were with me for meet-ups during the baby and toddler years - and quite a number of them I am still in touch with 20+ years later and would count as my closest friends. So imo it's worth it just for that.

The main purpose of it is so you can create a little WhatsApp group of mums who will have given birth at a similar time, so you can swap advice and war stories at 3am with people who are in exactly the same situation as you. Well worth it some might say.

No mine was rubbish and I wish I hadn’t bothered. None of the group stayed in touch (only four couples including us) and the information wasn’t any use or bared any relevance to my eventual experience.

It really seems to be luck! Mine was great, good info, balanced on pain relief and didn't push natural as the best/only way. Our group was good too and nobody was pushy or had some sort of Instagram presence lol I didn't have any pregnant friends and the relationships were invaluable but I could just as easily have had a group who didn't gel, I've heard horror stories too as well as others with a good experience.

I'd say go for it if the money isn't a stretch and try and get other groups/meetings to go to as well for support.

Tbh the £200 course fee was almost worth it just for a supportive WhatsApp group of people experiencing the same those early weeks

Thank you all for your honest advice and experiences, it does seem very dependent on the group of people you get put with which makes sense. What sort of things do they cover in the sessions , like for example do they show you how to bath a baby or put a nappy on? Probably sounds stupid but I've never done those things and I want to get it right ...

I really like my NCT group and we are good friends. I’m really glad I did it, especially with a lockdown baby as there was nothing offered by the local hospital. But it is luck of the draw.

Bathing, feeding, all sorts is covered

When I remember mine, I shudder!

Blergh no.

As you can tell, it's a bit of a gamble.

The main attraction was the ready made group of mum friends. Unfortunately for me, by the time I booked the local group had sold out. So I attended an extra one in the nearest city put on due to demand. None of us lived within 10 miles of another. So other than rare meetups, most of our contact has been via WhatsApp. That being said, we are still in occasional contact 3 years later, so not all bad.

As for the content... It was ok. Only really covered the basics, other than breastfeeding which had a whole session to itself, and was very in depth. However, it was a bit too in depth as formula was barely discussed, though we did learn the 'Fed is Best' mantra. As for the other sessions, labour and birth was the main focus. Postnatal care had about half a session dedicated to it, and a little bit more than an hour was spent learning about looking after a newborn.

Our leader was good. From out of area, so didn't know our trust's policies, but wasn't crunchy in the slightest. Covered pain relief fairly and without prejudice. Though, as her background was in maternity research, didn't really know much about the medicalised parts of care. So inductions, caesareans and forceps, while covered, had no real degree of detail. Tears, retained placentas, and other potential complications weren't covered at all. Given that 4 of us had some form of induction, then of the 6 of us, 2 had caesareans (both inductions), 1 had a forceps delivery with tearing (spontaneous), and another had a tear as well (induction). Only one of us went into spontaneous labour, and delivered without complications. Which was not the message we had been given from NCT.

All in all, while it wasn't as great as I had hoped, I don't regret doing the course. Primarily for the WhatsApp group.

I considered doing it again for my second (no local refresher course), but didn't in the end. I could teach the course myself, so it would purely have been for the friends. I decided against it, as if I was going to do meetups, it would have to be at baby and toddler groups or the park, so that my toddler wouldn't be bored. Why spend £200+ to pre-meet people when I'd be going to those places anyway?

I opted not to do the nct courses but instead did the nhs courses that my trust offers - my trust offers about 12 hours. I’ve found them really useful as they’re tailored for my hospital and I feel I understand the different wards and how the midwife unit operates. They’re still putting us in a WhatsApp group for the nhs course but I doubt I’ll be friends with any of them. Very much luck I guess! Can’t comment on the nct but in case it’s useful I opted against the nct as I know my personality - I don’t want the pressure of having to reply to WhatsApp group messages to a group of women that I don’t really know after giving birth. The nhs WhatsApp group I feel I can ignore if I want as I didn’t pay for it!

As PP said, how useful the course is depends on the leader and their approach. Our leader was ok, I learnt some bits from her but went too far on the natural no pain, anti epidural, anti intervention approach in my opinion. Also incredibly frustrating that formula feeding is just not discussed or considered as an option.

However, a big reason I did the course was to make friends and luckily the others had a similar mindset and we all got on really well. Can genuinely say they are my closest friends 7 years on and could not imagine parenting without them in my life. The children are like cousins, some are at school together, we holiday together. I consider myself extremely lucky to have got the group I did

I personally wish we’d never bothered (my partner persuaded me to) and we didn’t end up finishing the course.
I didn’t know much about NCT when we booked the course but there seemed to be more of an emphasis on getting to know one another and making friends whereas I’d have rather just sat through a talk getting the information but maybe I’m a bit antisocial!
In terms of the content, some of it was common sense, some of it could easily be found online, other bits (info about the different stages of labour and pain relief options) were fairly informative.
I did find it a bit forced and awkward at times though, splitting off into groups to discuss everything…
Also, if you’re planning on bottle feeding, not much information at all but a two hour breastfeeding class…
I totally get what you could get out of NCT classes if you want the opportunity to meet others locally and strike up potential friendships in which case I’d say give it a try, however if all you’re after is matter of fact essential information then you’d be overpaying :)

What sort of things do they cover in the sessions , like for example do they show you how to bath a baby or put a nappy on?

We got shown both those things. Safe sleep, how to hold a baby, and cloth nappies were also covered. In the postnatal care half session we also covered things like colic, reflux, and clingy babies.

@rieb95 yes, ours covered bathing, swaddling, burping / winding, nappy changing, different ways of holding baby and tips on how to settle baby / help baby to sleep. We did ours online due to covid and we all had to bring a "baby" eg. a teddy or we made ours out of a towel, that we then practiced on. I guess if you do them in person then you can practice on dolls or similar?

Mine were about 19 years ago now and still friends with a few mums, it's like everything in life, you may get a nice bunch you may not.

But you really have nothing to loose??

I guess if you do them in person then you can practice on dolls or similar?

That's exactly what we did! Though, dollies are far more compliant than wriggly babies at nappy changes. They also don't make stealth puddles or imitate a water fountain. Or have a blow out mid change... I'd forgotten about the swaddling bit. I was so bad at it, I think my baby decided in utero to never have it done to her.

@Dyra haha, so true! We swaddled for around three weeks whilst DD was in NICU / shortly after coming home, then very quickly switched to grobags!! 😁

We did NCT, mainly because in that quasi-post-lockdown period our NHS trust offered literally nothing in the way of education for first time parents and there was no other organisation filling the gap. We’re having a joint 1st birthday for our NCT babies, but I guess we were lucky that we gelled. I had to push our instructor to tell us about induction and a few other things that I’ve forgotten now. Breastfeeding info was useful but not as good as the peer supporters.

At my six week check, my GP said ‘ah, NCT. Paying for friends!’ And she wasn’t wrong. I needed support and didn’t know anyone else who was pregnant. Happy we did it. Seems a bit luck of the draw, though.

I did the NCT course, I basically just paid for a WhatsApp group. The content is so far reality it’s a joke and doesn’t cover any of the important shit like colic, reflux, actual labour, baby sleep, you know stuff new parents actually need to know about!!!

did meet nice people and they have been fab for those dark / long days and when you’ve been up all night. Would I recommend the course? Absolutely fucking not!

We swaddled for around three weeks whilst DD was in NICU / shortly after coming home, then very quickly switched to grobags!! 😁

@YorkshireTeaCup DD hated not having her hands free. The second she was big enough, she went into sleep bags. Never looked back. No idea if DS would have liked swaddling. He was big enough for bags from birth, so into the bags he went!

I didn't find the content that helpful, but I'm a nicu nurse so honestly I probably knew more than the course leader did. I was there for the friends and honestly it didn't disappoint. They are such a great bunch, totally down to earth, zero competition and I wouldn't have got through the last year without them.
Met a few other mums at baby groups too though, so it's not the only way to make friends :)

I found it really helpful as I was feeling a bit clueless!

I found the information very useful, but will admit it was also a great way to meet people. 10 years on we mums are off on another weekend away together soon.