hub2dee goes to NCT - what are the classes like ? (online 'notes')

[hub2dee]

Hi all,

We had our first NCT class the day before yesterday, and our second tonight.

I thought it might be helpful to anyone who couldn't get to them / couldn't afford them / didn't fancy them (especially first time parents) to be able to scan through a rough, brief outline of what the classes covered so you could see if it might be of interest.

I'll post a VERY brief summary of each lesson over the next few weeks. Anyone can add any supporting info / comments / materials etc. Please be aware that every NCT teacher will handle their class differently, and tailor handouts / structure / contents / timing etc. to their local needs. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY !

I will also point out from the outset that the NCT is a charity, and that it was repeatedly mentioned in all the blurb / forms that inability to pay was not supposed to be a deterring factor to class attendance - contact them to chat about reduced rates etc.

Please feel free to post corrections etc. - my memory is lousy, my notetaking sparse and my handwriting indecipherable.

Registration:

Attendance at NCT classes is co-ordinated by regional reps. Classes often fill up much earlier than you think.

Phone up the NCT (number and info here ) to receive the contact info of your local person.

You write off with name /address / Estimated due date (EDD) etc., plus an SAE and then one day your class info turns up. Do it early !

Cost us £150 I think. (London). You don't need to be a member of the NCT to take the classes.

LESSON 1:

Nervous looking group of people assembled in the teacher's home. 8 couples. Introduction, discussion of NCT image, then straight into icebreakers.

Discussions about expectations of course, experience of pregnancy so far.

Handouts (breastfeeding, positions, pain relief, contact sheet for group, co-sleeping, the NCT).

Anatomy session with cross-sectional drawings showing guts etc. being displaced for growing baby at different stages, how this feels, implications (breathing, bladder etc.) Move on to gravity, the pelvis, discussion of how to keep the pelvis open (hands and knees for 10 minutes a day etc.), helpful positions for birth. Anterior, posterior, optimal fetal positioning and what you can do to give yourself the best chance of a good presentation for an easy, swift birth.

I raised the 'what can blokes do' question and we spent a while on that. Answer: advocate where necessary, bucket loads of encouragement, help partner stay calm, breathe etc.

Quite fun, pondered which, if any of the couples might become 'NCT friends' LOL.

LESSON 2:

Started with a few more minutes of icebreaking.

Overview of stages of labour.

Discussion of First Stage - covering things like show, waters breaking (fore, hind), contractions (sensation, timing, breathing through the 'wave'). When to stay at home if poss, when to go to hospital. Learnt about cord prolapse too (highly unlikely but requires urgent treatment).

Listened to some mellow music for a few minutes. Discussed impact of tension on the body. Breathing out. Practice of various positions to keep the pelvis open and manage First Stage, including massage, relaxation, breathing, using birthing balls / walls / chairs / partner etc. When do you go to hospital (contractions 45 - 60 seconds long, which have been going on regularly for about 1 hour).

Pelvic floor. What it is, why you want good tone, exercises.

Group beginning to chill out and laugh a bit more.

Hope you enjoy the whole course and bond with the other couples. The people we met on our NCT course have at times been extremely important in our lives. Out of 8 couples, 5 of us still meet up regularly and our eldest children are now 11. One of the girls has become one of my closest friends (in fact was pouring out my woes to her on the phone this evening, but was cut short by DS2 deciding to practice his clarinet right next to me!). The other 3 couples moved away from the area otherwise I suspect we would still be close to them too.

Our NCt group didn't gel and become lifelong friends (maybe a couple) - but we did get along well during the course. It was very informal and friendly and partly led by our questions.

The only thing I didn't like was role playing (I really am crap at role play, and found it impossible to imagine myself having a contraction ).

Not much was said about after the birth, but contact with new and experienced parents via the NCT coffee groups was very good for that.

hub2dee, which borough were the courses in? And are you sure it was 150? I ask, because we're charging 140 now (with an extra bf session), and we're always curious to know what other boroughs are charging. (I'm in Tower Hamlets, and although I've never been on an NCT course, I'm involved in the local NCT.)

Hi Freckle: Thanks for the good wishes. I'm glad you made some long-standing friendships. It's v. funny because often people do say they make good friends there, so you turn up and gaze, wondering what the future might be, and what people are like etc. and who you'lll get close to LOL. We seem to have a nice crowd.

Hi throckenholt - at your contraction role playing capability. Yes, I get the impression it will at times feel a little odd. DW seems to be enjoying gossiping with all the other mammas whilst the blokes shuffle around like nervous lions LOL ! Hope to quietly sneak into a coffee group at some point for a nosey...

Hi NQC: You're right, I'm wrong -

The classes cost £140 (just found the cheque stub). We're in the borough of Barnet. I'm not quite sure what exactly our local NCT group does / organises (outside co-ordination of the antenatal classes)... will look into it.

Make sure that your teacher actually gets as far as covering second stage of labour; ours was so keen on pushing the breastfeeding and meditation and slagging off epidurals and Caesareans that she didn't actually get as far as covering how to actually give birth, so none of us actually had much clue what we were doing or what to expect when push came to shove (so to speak).

The friendships we made were really the only good thing that came out of our NCT classes, although four years down the line we don't see as much of each other as we would like.

usually in addition to antenatal classes, they will run coffee groups, nearly new sales, have breast feeding counsellors, raise money to train more teachers and counsellors, liase with the local maternity services, have a register of people with special experiences (eg pre-eclampsia, special needs, twins ...).

You can get involved as much or as little as you like.

Your class gender divide sounds strangely familiar .

Definitely try and go to a coffee group - having a dad there would be great (my DH has been to a few).

Hi Toadie, our NCT teacher is extremely experienced (I think she's been running classses for 14 years or sommit ! Gski had heard of her through her NCT work ! She (teacher) seems to keep to a fairly strict timetable and seems well organised. I think we're on Second Stage next week.

"You're amazing, you're amazing" has been instructed to the hub for vocalisation.

I think something more like "it's amazing, it's amazing" (how bl*dy long you want me to keep massaging your bl*dy sacrum for, woman - will be the internalised dialogue LOL).

You should maybe phone one or two of your old NCT buddies up and say hi and perhaps meet for a worm ?

Throck - I looked, but couldn't find local nearly new sales (nearest was miles and miles away IIRC), coffee groups etc. but maybe I was digging in the wrong place. Our teacher is one of only a few bf counsellors too, so we're very lucky there.

you will probably be given the latest local newsletter by your teacher at some point - which should put you in touch with all local activities.

They will also probably have a new parents get together, and probably a reunion of your group once the babies all arrive.

here you go - on the nct web site under nearly new sales

Barnet NCT Nearly New Sale
Date: Saturday 9th July 2005
Time: 2.30-4.30pm
Venue: St. Mary's Church Hall, Church Hill Road, East Barnet
Entrance £1 per adult (children free)
Contact: 07960 521271

Blimey throck... thanks !

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Thanks Gski. The £140 was without any membership fee ! That seems pretty steep, TBH, but I suppose they gear it to each area and use the price to also control class size to some degree I expect. Plus, as it's a charity funds would get pooled.

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We're at the Royal Free, but thanks for the info.

Love the no bear grapplers rationale.

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IIRC, the NCT branch doesn't make much (if any) profit out of antenatal classes. I know mu old branch actually made a loss for a couple of years.

Hub - hate to disillusion you, but our teacher had been running classes for 25 years ... just make sure she gets to the important bits as well as the fluffy stuff

Yeah, our branch doesn't make a lot out of them. When you include the cost of the teacher, the cost of the venue, and so on, it adds up quickly. I think £140 is a fairly average price to pay - central London branches pay more.

If you're low income, you can ask to pay less.

(Oh, and class size is set by the teacher, I think - we never have more than 8 couples.)

and even if the classes are in the teacher's home she gets a "wear and tear/expenses" allowance

Hmm if I was running an NCT class it would go like this:

• Women kneel in front of men (calm down boys).
• Men slap testicles on a stool and women place clamp around testicles.
• Women slowly tighten clamp until men go cross-eyed. Keep tight for 60 seconds. Say "Well done darling, you're doing really well." Rub his back.
• Release clamp. Wait 2 minutes. Repeat endlessly for 24 hours. Tell him to breathe through it.

Increase the tightness of the clamp over this time. Don't forget to suggest positions that might make it more 'comfortable.' When he starts begging, light a candle and suggest that he focus on this and breathe. If at any point he suggests that he wants to die, remind him that it's 'only pain' and 'nothing he can't handle'.

Charge £140.

you could charge a damn sight more than £140 for that MP and women would be queueing up to pay it.

oops - I think any place you consider will have some folk that say "it was amazing" and some people who say "it was horrendous". I've heard both about the Royal Free - from friends as well as MNers. I have been satisfied with our care so far but I am pushy / nosey / vocal / questioning if I feel something hasn't happened (appoitntments) or needs to get done (blood tests). I think it is very easy to 'fall through the cracks,' so to speak at the Royal Free, but the facilities are great. I understand midwife retention (hence presumably morale) is so so...

Sorry I can't be more definitive.

WWB - sorry to hear your teacher only did fluff and failed to instruct on the art of passing a spiky watermelon.

Gski advised me the teachers were paid an hourly rate (if I understood correctly), so I would hope (at least for our branch perhaps) the the antenatal classes turn a profit £140 X 9 couples = £1260 (presuming everyone paid full rate) for 8 lessons should make a profit IMO. I hope it will help fund branch activities or other central NCT projects.

morningpaper - have you tried hypnoclamping ? Amazing. Really amazing.

A significant proportion of the revenue from the classes goes straight to head office - how much exactly depends on whether the branch is training any teachers at the time. The branch I was treasurer of until recently made almost no profit (tens of pounds per course) on the antenatal classes - although we didn't charge as much as you have been charged. The branch has to pay for any new teacher training which was more than the courses could cover in our case, even though we ran them back to back and they were always over-subscribed. We had to fund-raise like crazy and a proportion of any money we raised that way still went to head office. Obviously it's right that funds go there for the campaigning function, but lots of branches, particularly smaller ones, really struggle to keep afloat.

mrsflowerpot, I'm a treasurer, and I know what you mean. The head office grabs funds in some strange ways - e.g. any VAT you collect has to be sent to it (fair enough), but VAT you are due, isn't sent back to you (huh?).

Strangely, they don't take a cut of newsletter advertising income.