NCT

NCT is the UK's largest parental charity that offer information and support to new and existing parents. Me and Ole decided to book NCT as we were too late to have the NHS antenatal classes (my fault for not reading the pink book properly!) As we were under 21 and didn't have a high income at the time, we got almost 90% off the original price which we thought was amazing!


Our first class was on the 24th of August (I would've been about 36 weeks pregnant; all the other mummies to be were about 30 weeks!). The class was 09:30-16:00. Me and Ole originally thought this was quite a long time but once we had got going the time went really fast! In this session we covered 'pre-labour, labour and birth'. Ole and I both found this very interesting and it made Ole much more confident in knowing how to support me during labour and birth. We learned massage techniques, breathing techniques, signs of labour & different pain relief (the body's natural endorphin's are as strong as gas and air if you get your breathing right!!!). 


We completed different tasks such as:

* Placing diagrams in the correct order which reflect labour.

* What we thought the pros and cons of each pain relief were; gas and air, pethidine, epidural and TENS machines.

* Labour relaxation techniques and visualisations such as pretending you're blowing out a line of 5 candles one after the other (this is the breathing/panting you should be doing when the midwives ask you not to push)

* And many more!!

As well as learning about these different topics, Ole and I met some really great couples - including ourselves there were 6 couples. All of whom were roughly 30 weeks pregnant might I add so we were the first couple who would be giving birth! One of the mummies - Jo - was expecting twin girls and it was really interesting talking to her about the plans for her birth, as obviously it would be very different to ours as she was classed as a high risk pregnancy. Compared to everyone else I would say that me and Ole were the most relaxed about everything - which was funny as we were the youngest couple by at least 8-10 years I'd say. The other mummies were very anxious and scared about labour whereas I never felt that way.

Deciding to pay for our antenatal classes and for the experience of the NCT was something I would recommend to ANY parents/mummies to be (depending on your age and income there are massive discounts available which I don't think many people know about. - We got 90% off for our course). At first Ole and I didn't really feel like we learned that much; we felt like we knew most of what Anna was talking about. But actually, just being reassured that what you're thinking or doing is right, means a lot. Especially if it's your first baby/babies! 

Once our boy was born we realised how much NCT had actually helped us. I think it helped Ole a lot as he felt very much like he 'wouldn't be able to do anything right or be a good dad' which I think most men must feel like as it's a whole new playing field for them. NCT gave Ole confidence and made most of his fears about birth, labour and becoming a new parent disappear! It also assured him that regarding post-labour, he knew when my milk would be coming in for example, and he knew ways in which he could help me with the baby and my own personal recovery. I honestly don't know what I would've done without Ole by my side that first week or so - I couldn't even walk up the stairs or get in the bath by myself! I felt like such an invalid and felt like I was about 80. 

{ If you'd like to contact NCT for courses, advice, parenting tips, and so much more then visit their website: www.nct.org.uk  (just click here)  or you can call their helpline on: 0300 330 0700 }

You can even sign up to receive your FREE guide to pregnancy, your baby's development and life as a parent.

J xxx