How to choose antenatal course?

[itamia55]

I thought NCT is the only resource providing antenatal course (but it's not cheap) however I heard that NHS also provide free course for mum& dad. Any one who's got experience on both?

[WeeMrsH]

The midwife should refer you to the NHS antenatal course at the appropriate time in your pregnancy. They will normally go over this with you at one of your appointments around week 25-30 I think. I have no experience of the courses so can’t comment on which is better, we are starting ours in a couple of weeks

[Hidden]

We did the NHS one and it was helpful. They went through labour and what options you have for pain relief, how to recognise labour, when to contact maternity when contractions get to a certain stage. Then we went through what happens for the first couple of weeks after baby has arrived e.g. HV visiting, midwife visiting, any tests the baby needs like hearing. I wouldn’t of paid for the NCT one xx

[Kempton]

I did the cheap classes at my local hospital and I really regret not doing. Nct. To be honest I couldn't afford the classes but i knew I'd be moving shortly after baby was born so didn't want to make a bunch of new mum friends who I'd then never see again. However, I know so many people who are still in touch with their nct friends, and their children have become friends, and then I haven't managed to make a group of mummy friends despite going to baby groups.

This all said though, you don't need nct to make friends and there are loads of apps out there..Just personally I've not had much luck via the apps.

[Billywhizz10]

We haven't joined the nct classes, just the ones through the nhs.

We found the nhs one excellent, we've paid for a hypno birthing course which was excellent and we were surprised how the midwife made us do relaxation breathing exercises in the nhs class! It covered everything from the pregnancy and birth to bathing your baby.

It was especially good as they got a couple from a previous nhs class to come in with their baby and answer questions.

Whatever you do, you both should attend the nhs class, my hospital did class just for dads too. I know all health authorities are different, but I can't fault the service we got.

[H_m_t]

I finished my NCT course a few weeks ago now. Yes, they were expensive but totally worth the money in my opinion, especially as a first time mum to be! My local trust didn’t offer me any free NHS courses either. I’d definitely recommend. Xxx

[emmab178]

Our local area don't do the nhs courses anymore so we did nct.

[MissEd]

We are doing nct but thats because it was recommended by friends of ours as they made lots of friends at theirs. Ive heard that both the nhs and nct courses tell you pretfy much the same thing anyway x

[kt_11]

We did NCT and I don’t regret paying for it at all.

Unfortunately the NHS course in my area was on a weekday afternoon. I think my employer (NHS) would have given me the time off to attend but it just wasn’t possible for my partner who is self-employed.

They had some evening sessions as well but these seemed to be more like one-off lectures with lots of people there whereas I wanted an ongoing course with a group of people I could get to know. NCT was on evenings and weekends so worked out well for us and we met a nice group of people too.

Maybe ask your midwife what’s available from the NHS in your area as it does vary a lot. You may as well use those services if you can. Not sure how far along you are but NCT classes do get booked up well in advance so if you want to do that, make sure you don’t leave it too late.

All the best with whatever you decide x

[itamia55]

thanks ladies, very helpful. I haven't been noticed about there's course offered in my area yet as i haven't met my midwife.

so i will see after another month when i got the first chance to meet the midwife group.

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

Our nhs one was only two sessions, we only went to the first one and it was a very brief overview of labour and birth. We didn’t go to the second one because we didn’t think much of the quality of the first session and we had already booked for Nct which we are finding much more informative and interesting. The real advantage of Nct though is getting to know friends who will have babies the same age as yours- if you want this then it’s worth the money!