Antenatal class

I didn't really know what to expect from antenatal classes. I was hoping it wouldn't be too scary! I really didn't want to have to watch childbirth videos, nor did I want to do anything too "earth mothery" like sitting in a circle doing breathing exercises and touchy feely sharing. Luckily none of these things were involved. It was a great class. The teacher was very matter of fact and down to earth, offering just the right balance of reality without being too in your face. We were also relieved to find that the other couples (the group was 8 couples in total) were very nice and similar to us. We all ate lunch together and everyone seemed to get along and have plenty to talk about, baby/pregnancy-wise and otherwise. I was recommended NCT classes over hospital run ones for the very reason it is a good way to meet other people who live locally and I would have to agree it's worth the cost.

The class was also very well structured and provoked a lot of interesting and worthwhile discussion, not only as a group and as mums-to-be and dads-to-be, but also amongst ourselves as couples. It's invaluable for dads in my opinion. I mean, mums-to-be naturally get into discussion with other women and generally have access to a lot of information, but for dads that is less available and this class seemed to me a good way for the dads to take all this information on board. I was really impressed with how involved all the men in the group were and how much they wanted to participate. It opened up a lot of discussion for hubby and myself and although he has been supportive from the start I really feel now like he's really there for me and understands it all better.

If there's anyone out there who is considering taking NCT or equivalent antenatal classes I would highly recommend it.