NCT classes or NHS antenatal?

[Mrs CP]

Hi! I am 21 weeks and trying to decide on whether to go for the NCT antenal classes or go with the NHS? I'd be grateful for any advice? Thanks x

 

[Shiv]

I did NCT classes with my first and met such a lovely group of friends. We all still see eachother regularly and we are having a joint 2nd birthday party for all the LO's next month.

I think NHS classes tend to have many more people attending so I think it may be more unlikely that you would form lasting friendships (although I am sure that this is not true in all cases).

I would say if you are going to classes to find out about labour and birth etc only then NHS would be fine, but if you are going to find a group of mummy friends then I can't fail NCT for that.

NCT does have a leaning towards natural birth and breastfeeding, so if you are deadset against these then NCT may not be for you. They do still cover all bases and I had a whole class on c-sections/epidurals etc, so they cover everything just with a bias to natural births.

Hope this helps

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

WSS!

 

[Mrs CP]

Thanks Shiv, was thinking that would be the case, i am looking to meet other mums as none of my friends have children yet, will look into the nct classes x

 

[Mrs CP]

Mum2b_claire what is WSS? X

 

[x Michelle x]

WSS is "what she said"

I did antenatal (i'm aberdonian and too tight to pay for things you shouldn't have to!)
Luckily there were only 7 of us in the class, we are such good friends now!
The midwives used to bake cakes and bring in home made smoothies and herbal teas, it was great fun!
But i know the classes run out of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital are usually jam packed and a bit crap, luckily i live in the outskirts so it was a lot better going at my local clinic.
Perhaps ask your midwive about class sizes etc?

 

[Loo]

We did NCT with my last pregnancy, because they were on a weekend and that meant I didn't have to take time off work and my husband could also come with me. NHS classes were all in the day on a week day so he couldn't get the time off easily.

I know people who went to both and they did seem to have quite different topics discussed (apart from the obvious stuff) so you might want to ask about the content of each and see what suits you best.

 

[Mrs CP]

Thanks for the feedback x

 

[cranberry987]

Im planning on going to both. The main reason for me is to meet other local mums really rather than find out information. I think the two options will attract a different type of people so will see who I meet

 

[LadyGecko]

well i am started both nct and nhs classes this week, the nhs class was over crowded and pretty terrible an hour there felt like a life time...where as the nct class was much better..alot more interactive and you can ask as many questions as you like cant wait for next weeks nct class....ive decided not to go back to the nhs classes

 

[Mrs CP]

I have booked onto both today, so i can see the difference, thanks for helping me make a decision! X

 

[lau86]

I found nct classes great, nhs I've only been to one and it did give me the info but just wasn't the same friendly rosy atmosphere.x

 

[sarah1980]

I only went to the NHS ones and I thought they were excellent but I have heard of some that were not so good so I think it really depends on the particulat area you live in. Perhaps have a look in the local boards and see if there is anyone in your area that can comment?

HTH,

Sarah xxx

 

[YorkieMom]

We've recently finished 10 weeks of NCT classes, and I can't recommend them highly enough. There were 6 couples in our class and we've already become such great friends and hung out separately outside of the NCT course. I'm so lucky to have met everyone because we moved to the area from Canada 3 years ago so we wanted to meet new parents in the area we could be friends with. My husbands cousin is due a week before us, but they're really cheap & didn't want to pay the extra money for NCT so they went to the NHS class instead. They're both Dr's so don't need to know as much info as we did about birth etc - they were also just hoping to meet people, but they said there were about 30 couples in the class and they didn't really meet anyone they could be friends with.

Our midwife teaches some of the hospital classes, so is really pushing us to go - so much so that she actually signed us up for the class this Sat. I'll almost be 37 weeks and insaid we probably couldn't do this sat, but she didn't listen & enrolled us anyway so we have decided to go and see how it is. At our hospital the course runs from 10:00 - 2:30 and is just one day, so rather than having 10 weeks to absorb all the info & ask questions you've only got anew hours. The other reason why we choose NCT it because (no offense) we thought the people enrolled in it would be more similar to us in life style, career, and beliefs because they choose to pay to be there. On the NHS course you get all sorts, especially younger people, and since we're 30 we wanted to meet people in the same age group as us if that makes sense. Turns out the ladies in my group and 28, 29 (me for another 2 weeks), 32, 34, 35 & 36. We all live in the same area & 3 out of the 6 of us work in marketing, so very similar.

It really just depends on what your looking for. If it's friends & support, then NCT. If it's just general info, then you should be fine with the NHS.

 

[Holpop]

We opted for the NCT course because I couldn't find any NHS ones that were run either on an evening/weekend. We attended 2x 6hr classes on Saturdays & there's a 'Women only' 2+hr session as a bolt on running next Tuesday evening. I would highly recommend the 2x classes that we've attended so far & I'm looking forward to the next. The teacher is very approachable & presents everything in a way that's open & honest, letting us choose what's best for us. The mix of couples is great & everyone gets along. My partner wasn't keen on attending initially but he's a convert & would highly recommend the classes too. Whilst they're not cheap, for £106 we'll get 14+hrs of course content & a re-union meeting when we've all had our babies. Being put in touch with other people in a similar situation is invaluable & I'd encourage anyone/everyone to sign up.