Joining the NCT

Mimsy, if you end up missing out on the classes, try not to worry.  I read up on the birthing process and found that was helpful and try and get your other half to do the same.  But it doesn't really matter that much in the end, the midwife will tell you what to do on the day and you won't remember any of it in the heat of the moment anyhow.   What is more helpful are the classes on how to care for your baby and breastfeeding etc.

Mimsy, if you end up missing out on the classes, try not to worry.  I read up on the birthing process and found that was helpful and try and get your other half to do the same.  But it doesn't really matter that much in the end, the midwife will tell you what to do on the day and you won't remember any of it in the heat of the moment anyhow.   What is more helpful are the classes on how to care for your baby and breastfeeding etc.

thanks. i'm sure you are right. i actually purposely held off on thinking about birthing stuff at the advice of my midwife; ie she sussed me out pretty quickly and realised i'd obsess over it all too much, too early on in the process.... i think that was actually pretty good advice for me, but has gotten me into a bit of a pickle re: nct courses....

we'll see what happens. for as many people who have told me to try the nct stuff others have told me to ignore all the books and advice b/c it's not really gonna be in my control in the end anyway.

Has anyone heard of any Lamaze classes given here?

Also, is care of the baby part of the antenatal classes of the NCT?  I'm only just 12 weeks, but can't hurt to start thinking about all of this!

I believe care is included, breastfeeding, bathing, etc.  To be honest, that is why I want to go.  The actual birth, well anything can happen.  It's good to see what happens, but most people say it never goes the way you want it too.

  Should I go to the hospitals ante natal classes too do you think, or is that just overkill?

I would go to them as well, if only for the tour of the labour suite/post partum area.  I think I would have been shocked senseless if I hadn't seen them before crazy labor hormones kicked in.  At least up here, however clean and safe things are, it's a far cry from L&D units back home!  Just my 2 cents!

Yes!  Care is what I really need too...  I have 2 young nephews, but it's so different when the child is your own and you are fully responsible! 

perhaps it was just bad coordinating on behalf of the group planners, but it was enough to put me off the NCT.

not to mention, when i consulted the NCT for breastfeeding advice, they were VERY militant about it. and when i mentioned giving some formula too, i was told, "oh no, you don't want to do that." and so on and so forth.

You should have complained. I was trained as an NCT bf counsellor and we were always told that we were to offer information and advice but not opinions. If someone wanted to give formula, you might discuss how it would affect their milk supply, but you could not not tell them that they shouldn't do it. If someone wanted to switch to bottle feeding, you would tell them how to cut down on breastfeeding and introduce the bottle, and perhaps put them in touch with another mother who had already done it for support.

They saved my breastfeeding w/Roisin!  She hadn't latched in hospital, so I was expressing and it was a royal PITA.  It's double the work if you're doing it full time.  A counsellor came over and spent a few hours w/me helping Roisin get on properly, how to get her back on after she needed a windy or got wriggly at the breast.  And loads of tips on how to express efficiently, store milk, etc.

They saved my breastfeeding w/Roisin!  She hadn't latched in hospital, so I was expressing and it was a royal PITA.  It's double the work if you're doing it full time.  A counsellor came over and spent a few hours w/me helping Roisin get on properly, how to get her back on after she needed a windy or got wriggly at the breast.  And loads of tips on how to express efficiently, store milk, etc.

Wow, they actually came to your house!  That is fantastic.

Wow, they actually came to your house!  That is fantastic.

This lady did.  I was crying down the phone b/c I had SO much milk, it was starting to hurt and I didn't want it to go to waste - it's Roisin's, dangit!  So I phoned the counsellor and she was down in England and gave me a number for a local lady.  She lived pretty close and was the terrific motherly type - she has 3 grown kids.  She even showed me how to calm Roisin down a bit when she didn't latch.  Sometimes a baby can start getting really panicky when they're hungry and chomp the nipple and you have to take them off.  You give it about 10 seconds or so and then break the latch if it's really painful, b/c it only takes a couple of bad feeds to wind up w/serious blisters.  But then when you break it, the baby can get pretty angry!  Then their wee tongue goes up, and the tongue needs to be done under nipple, so you have to calm them a bit. 

Some are better at latching than others.  Aillidh was horrid.  Roisin was a natural.

Wow, they actually came to your house!  That is fantastic.

Counsellors often go to people houses; the first contact may be a phone call, but often you need to see baby and mother feeding to understand what is happening.