NCT vs NHS antenatal

[Baypony]

Hi all, currently 20w pregnant with my first baby and trying to decide on antenatal classes. NCT in my area offer a 17h course for £274! Is this the usual price? Seems very expensive 🤔

So i’ve been looking at NHS free 1 day courses in my area. Does anyone have experience of either? Does NCT actually give you any more practical info than the NHS course?

(I’ve got an online Hypnobirthing course and midwives in my area run breastfeeding courses.)

Thanks

[Hidden]

I did just the NHS one and they went through labour and what to expect and the signs of labour along with what they do after eg giving the baby the vitamin K jab (if you want). Also they talked about when your home and safe sleeping and how often they visit and what it entails.

I didn’t want to spent out for the NCT one as you have enough to spend out lol but I’m sure that’s probably more in dept and helpful.

Depends what you want to gain from it all I guess xx

[Kempton]

I just did the one provided by my hospital, although it wasn't free but about a tenner I think. This mostly covered the birth. So things like pain relief options, the stages of birth and so on. It briefly touched upon breastfeeding too. I'd say it's definitely worth doing one at your hospital. It's a nice way to meet people and, personally, I just loved everything to do with pregnancy once I finally got pregnant!

One thing I would add is that I did so much reading myself. I'd tried for years to be pregnant so when I finally was, I felt like I just wanted to immerse myself in this world I'd previously only dreamt of being part of. It meant I had so much knowledge about what to expect. After my son was born, the amazing midwife who delivered him even asked if I was a midwife lol.

I also read a hypnobirthing book and listened to the relaxing tunes. I used this in early labour. My hubby said he liked it too, he found it very soothing.

The only thing I'd say is that I know people who did nct and it's like they have a ready made network of new mums. I simply couldn't afford it. On the upside, if you go to regular baby groups once your LO arrives, you'll also form a network of mum friends.

Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

[jessyjessy572]

Hi I did NTC and to be honest was quite disappointed with it. Although the material was spread across few weeks (mine was 6 weeks for 3 hours) I have fund that lots of it was group discussion that I thought added no value. I don’t believe I have fund our anything more then what I have read online. Recently I moved the area to took opportunity to do NHS one and even if it was just few hours I found so much more useful it also included tour over the maternity unit etc. And it make me feel much better about giving birth and understanding my choices. The only thing with NTC is that you can meet some ppl and as those are longer you get to bond a little more, this didn’t add value for me as we knew we were moving so I guess you have to establish if it is worth it to pay the money.

[Prosopon]

My partner and I are going to do the NCT one on the advice of his friend, who has done both with his wife. He said the NCT was a smaller class and they all stayed in touch. He said the parents were mostly in their 30s in the NCT class, whereas the NHS one had a lot of people in their early 20s. This might not matter to you, but does to me and my partner as we're expecting our first in our 30s and want to meet people we can relate to. Though obviously the age of classmates isn't guaranteed!

[Cedrada]

I did both, nhs was more encouraging for the birth. That said, the friends I've made through NCT ate invaluable.

I'd recommend both.

[Hollibob]

It’s worth checking that your nhs area do antenatal classes, we had booked NCT on recommendations from friends and family, but when we asked at the hospital about antenatal and hospital tour, they said they don’t do them anymore and you get the information offline!

[Camellia90]

Similarly to you I'm 20+5 weeks with my first and wasn't sure what to opt for as feel like I need something but NCT in my area is £300+ which is hard to justify when there's lots of other expenses with a baby. I read about Daisy Birthing on another post here and found one in my area. It's a 6 week course, 1.5 hours a week and a mixture of exercise, birthing information, breathing techniques etc so a bit of an all in one and a great way to meet local other mums. It's not for dad's, unlike NCT. It's only £75 for the 6 week block so perhaps see if there is one local to you but book asap as they book up quickly. I start when im 30weeks which would be similar to when NCT classes start. I'm also going to my free NHS classes which I get 3 of. Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy and after x

[pinkie93]

I'm guessing this varies depending on where you live, but I was very impressed with the NHS classes in my area, we had 3 free classes; birthing, feeding and parenting. Each class was 2 hours (but all overran) and covered everything you could possibly think of, plus there was time to ask questions and get to know other expectant parents. The only extra class we paid for was an infant and child first aid class for £25 pp, would absolutely recommend this!

[Tugsgirl]

We did the nct one. It was 2.5 hours a week for 6 weeks. I don’t think it cost £274 though, that seems REALLY expensive xx

[MissEd]

I did nct. My lo is 8 months old and i have a whatapp group with the girls and we see each other at least once a week. It was £120 i believe. The couples were all professionals in their 30s

[kt_11]

I did NCT (not the most expensive one - think it called essentials).

I chose this because the nhs ones in my area take place on weekday afternoons and my partner wasn’t able to take time off work. NCT were evenings and weekends.

I found it really valuable early on and got lots of peer support from our whatsapp group and meet-ups.

It’s tailed off a bit now though (our babies are all about 15 months) but we still message every now and again.

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

NCT is more about making friends with babies the same age in my opinion, and for me it’s been totally worth it for that.

[claire16c]

I found the nct class to be worth it. I did the nhs one but we covered so much more in the nct one. And I made a group of friends that I was able to meet up with regularly with babies all of the same age which was fab. Also with nct it meant we had lots of time to discuss so many issues along with our partners. (and meet their breastfeeding counsellors, various groups they run, find out about volunteering opportunities, sales all sorts.so after the baby was born I knew where to go say for feeding problems etc)

The nhs one was fine but I found it was more quick facts and not so much time to ask questions or go over things in huge detail and definitely not enough time to make any friends from it. Our hospital doesn’t let you look round the mat unit anyway they show you online x

[Run_rabbit_run]

I did both in the good of meeting more mums-to-be in our local area. I was highly recommended by colleagues to go to NCT classes and was told ‘essentially you’re paying to make friends’.

I chose the NCT Signature course over a couple of weekends (as going after work for 4-5 weeks wasn’t a possible option for us). I think as it was over a shorter period of time my group has not ‘bonded’ as much. A few friends who attended the weekly classes however seem to have a better network within their NCT group. Having said that we found the course really well run and very informative but nothing that you wouldn’t be able to read up on from the NHS website or any of the pregnancy apps. I found it more useful because my partner attended the course with me and as my birth partner I wanted him to be as clued up and know what I was going through and what we both need to prepare for (not just me!).

The NHS one that I attended didn’t seem as well facilitated/run as the NCT one but I found the midwife-led sessions (some weeks it was covered by a healthcare advisor) really useful. I was surprised how much they also focused on relationships and feelings of both you and your partner which the NCT course didn’t cover much of but I think is equally important for managing expectations during pregnancy, birth, and when baby arrives. They also covered practical things too which the NCT did as well. I would agree with what another member has posted, that I found the couples in my NHS group a lot younger than me and my partner and who weren’t so chatty. The NCT group all got involved and chatted more in discussions but I think because we all paid for it, we wanted to make sure we got the most out of it. In our NHS classes all the other couples were silent in discussions pretty much which was really awkward for the facilitators who ran it. I’m glad I went to both though for a balance of topics that were covered.