NCT classes vs NHS ones vs activebirthyoga

[bambamma]

Hello, I am pregnant with my first child and have taken up active birth yoga which is GREAT! and I feel I am learning all sorts of tips for the birth and meeting other mums-to-be. Friends have recommended NCT antenatal classes but at over £200 and not close to where I live I wonder if the yoga plus the NHS antenatal classes would cover it. Any views? Thank you!

TBH I don't think you actually learn anything remotely useful in either NCT or NHS classes, having done both. I'd say the main reason to do NCT is to meet other mums-2-be who live near you - worth £200 for that alone IMO. But if you are already doing that through your yoga classes maybe you don't need this. Bear in mind that esp when babies are very tiny even a few weeks' age difference makes a massive difference to the experiences you are going through, which is why an NCT class is so great as everyone due at the same time - so maybe consider whether you are meeting people at same stage of pregnancy as you are. Good luck!

I would have thought the NHS classes plus yoga would have it covered.

If you need more info read Yehudi Gordon's birth and beyond, I had read it before the NCT classes and didn't learn anything new.

£200?! I didn't pay that much for NCT! But having a 3 week old I'm so glad we did go as jacksmybaby says its a great way to meet people particularly if you don't know many people in your area.

Keep up the yoga as well. I did it running up to the birth and was so glad I did as the breathing excersises got me through the birth with no pain relief. Not intentional but it happened so quickly there was no time for anything!!

Meeting people is the primary reason for doing NCT classes - if they are not local to you then not much point

Agree with MumNWLondon - the book covers it all

I don't think i learnt a great deal that i wanted to learn at NCT and it certainly didn't help when i came to give birth, however i made 4 fantastic friends and 3 years on we still meet all the time so it was more than worth the cash

I looked at the NCT classes and they seemed very restricted in what they discussed i.e. natural birth was the only way. When we all know in an ideal world that would be the case but not always.

So I did private classes with a non-profit company they weren't as expensive as NCT and fantastic if you want to know all the nuts and bolts. I'm a control freak so needed to know the ins and outs of everything. They were excellent and I made a good friend there too.

As for meeting people our local authority runs a post-natal group which was great and I have made some great friends who I see every week and that's 3 years on.

we did NCt classes and found they were excellent - very balanced in their approach, not just natural birth advocates at all. I thought we learned a lot about the birth and labour process, and gave lots of good tips on how dads can get involved.
we paid £130 for both of us to do 6 week course. Am also meeting up with peeps we met on he course, which I think wil be invaluable.
From what I've heard where we live, the NHS ones tend to have lots of young mums and they are not as long or in depth as the nct ones.

In my (very ancient) experience, the NCT ones talked a lot about natural childbirth, breastfeeding, how your partner can help you, etc - all good stuff - plus you got to meet people and it was all moreorless arranged for you that you would meet up after the births. But I did not find the other people very accepting of me and was soon dropped by them.

The NHS classes concentrated more on what your experience in hospital was going to be liked and they did not shy away from talking about the medical interventions you might need. You also got a tour of the hospital and did some relaxing and breathing techniques.

So both were valuable in their way.

I didn't do the NHS one, but I did do NCT because I wanted to meet mums of a similar age who lived nearby. We just had our 3 year reunion, and even though 2 of us have left London, we still try to meet up, whether it's just 2 of us or all 5. And in the early days they were my best friends - I didn't have any friends with tiny babies, or infact many friends with babies at all and my NCT friends were completely invaluable in helping me cope with a newborn, and I also wiled away many happy hours with them in coffee shops, restaurants and the odd bar. Happy memories!

The actual course was good too, though to be honest if you are reading books and doing the yoga, not essential. Couldn't comment on the NHS one.

Sorry, didn;t realize the NCT one was not close to you - probably no point then!

My NCT classes were quoted at over £200 too, so we decided not to take them up, especially as that was MUCH more than the fees quoted on the website. Figured paying for part of my sister's airfare she is an occupational therapist specialising in babies and has just had two DS of her own would be a better use of the money. Will be going to the local free NHS ones instead.

Any thoughts on why all the GPs and midwives I've spoken to (and they've all been fabulous so far) are so dismissive of the quality of the NCT classes?

don't know - not the case where I live at all. There seems ro be quite a god relationsip between the NHS and the NCt where I am - both quite complimentary of the other.

I did all 3 - yoga, NHS, NCT. All useful and useless in their own different ways. But I must admit the NCT people I am still in touch with but no-one from the other classes. It's almost like the money you pay is an incentive to keep in touch! 'I've handed over the cash, now give me my 5 instant friends'

That may be me, though. Being both lazy and fairly anti-social.

I too did all three. The NCT group I meet up with occasionally (I was the only one who didn't return to work which makes it more difficult) but I made three really good friends from the ante-natal yoga whom I see regularly. The NHS was useful from a "this is what we do at this hospital" point of view but I didn't really gel with anyone there.

Thanks to everyone who replied to this, I will take all your views on board then make up my mind!