NCT question

[seasister]

I'm due 11 December and I'm booking NCT classes (or equivalent, run by another private company where I live).

There are two courses to consider - one finishes 25 November, the other 8 November. The organisers suggest the later one. They say first timers give birth 40w+9 on average.

I have no idea if this is true. But would it matter if I did earlier one (it's on Mondays which is better for me than Thursday). And would it affect the circle of women with similar due dates who I might meet? Thinking ahead...

What's best? I have absolutely no clue about this stuff

I would go with what the organisers suggest since you are more likely to be in a group with others with similar EDDs.

(Having said that, I missed almost all my NCT classes as DS was 5 weeks early - BUT there is no way of knowing whether this will happen to you / chances are high it won't!!)

makes no odds

go for the one on the more convenient night

p.s. the reason I'd say it's better to go for the one where everyone will have similar EDDs is that in the early weeks especially, a few weeks' difference in a baby's age makes a MASSIVE difference to the experience you are going through. So in terms of support and friendship with other new mummies (which let's face it is the only reason to do NCT) this is a huge advantage.

Well, there's not a huge difference in the finish dates. If you do the earlier one you might find you are last to drop, but there are loads of variables. The births in my NCT class spanned about 6 weeks, and I was the last one. It was irritating at the time, waiting for my arrival while everyone else was getting on with the exciting new baby business, and I did feel that I was last to reach milestones in the first few months, but to be honest it made no difference to the friendships I made - still see 3 out of the 5 couples regularly 11 years on. And that was one of the best things I got out of the classes.