NHS antenatal classes

[ElliotW]

Hi,

Has anyone here done the NHS antenatal classes and what did you think of them?

Also how did you hear about them and book on? My wife is week 25 and has been told nothing yet. We've emailed the midwife twice but no reply so looking for information!

Thanks

[LouLouMoving]

Hi,

I attended these classes at Dulwich Hospital and found them fairly useful. I think he MCT classes might be more ?social? but I cannot day as I didn?t do both. I held off my classes due to work availability until I was 34wks and got dates through the post about 2/3 weeks ahead of time.

Good luck!

[ElliotW]

LouLouMoving Wrote:

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> Hi,

>

> I attended these classes at Dulwich Hospital and

> found them fairly useful. I think he MCT classes

> might be more ?social? but I cannot day as I

> didn?t do both. I held off my classes due to work

> availability until I was 34wks and got dates

> through the post about 2/3 weeks ahead of time.

>

> Good luck!

Great thanks, will keep a look out in a few weeks!

[bonnierach]

I liked the NHS Classes I went to at Dulwich hospital. I did NCT as well and keep in touch with both groups as at NHS we added to a whatsapp group. It was a different perspective to the NCT and helped to reinforce the information.

If I had realised how informative the NHS group was, I probably wouldn't have bothered with NCT for the learning, but it was good to have a wider group of friendly new parents at a similar stage to me so having both was nice.

I can't remember when I got notification and the dates, but I think it was after 30 weeks. Good luck!

R

[yeknomyeknom]

Hi, the classes were ok but do be warned. The people who run these classes are lovely and very good but are not the experts in everything. For example, when discussing breastfeeding I asked, what happens if you run out of milk. My teacher laughed and said it?s not possible, your body is built for feeding baby. This is actually very untrue. Many mums run out of milk. When it consequently happened to me I felt very deficient and with all the hormones going on it was a very distressing time for me which led me into depression essentially. Had I been told it?s perfectly normal and to just reach out for help, I might have gone down a different path.

[KatPenelope]

When I had my first appointment with my midwife in the first trimester she told me about the NHS classes at Dulwich hospital. She urged me to fill out a form she gave me as part of the initial pack of papers. I sent it off by post and told them which class time was best for me. They didn't contact me until nearer the time (around week 25), to tell me which group I had been allocated to. In summary your midwife e

[KatPenelope]

In summary chase your midwife as she should sort it for you.

[KatPenelope]

I guess you could also try just calling Dulwich Hospital direct and try to speak to someone involved in the courses, explain your situation (i.e. that you weren't given suitable information) and ask if you can join.

[sillywoman]

Yeknomyeknom, In the interests of clarity I have to point out that if all is going well and baby is breastfeeding regularly without problem it's not at all 'normal'- as your post claims - and in fact extremely unusual indeed to 'run out of milk'.

I don't know the specifics of your circumstance so obviously can't and won't presume to comment on them, and I'm sorry you feel that your feeding experience led you into depression, but it's not right to allow women to think that it's 'normal' to run out of milk when it isn't.

Breastmilk can decline of baby isn't being put to the breast enough, there are some specific health conditions and medications that can deduce milk supply, & some women have breasts that are a particular shape that makes milk production difficult from the start, but these are very separate and specific issues and none is 'normal'. If any woman has breastfeeding concerns she should speak to her midwife, or a breastfeeding specialist asap.

Edited to say: Sorry OP for sidetracking your thread, and I'm sure the midwives will be in touch soon with dates for your antenatal classes.

[yeknomyeknom]

This is what I was trying to illustrate. People like to tell you what is right and what isn?t. What is normal or not. If you fall outside of this it can be worrying. Go with your gut, consult a few people you trust and if anything feels wrong go to an expert.

[jenniferluke]

I have heard about an online course on health education for antenatal mother. Apart from antenatal care, this course will also give you guides and checklists which will help you in maintaining a fun and active healthy lifestyle during pregnancy.

[sillywoman]

jenniferluke Wrote:

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> I have heard about an online course on health

> education for antenatal mother. Apart from

> antenatal care, this course will also give you

> guides and checklists which will help you in

> maintaining a fun and active healthy lifestyle

> during pregnancy.

That's interesting, but it's American. The USA healthcare system is completely different to the ours here in the UK, and their approach to pregnancy and birth is very different from ours too, it's based on profit, as opposed to being based on safety - hence they have a much higher maternal and infant mortality rate. So I suspect that the information this course gives might be quite confusing if you're were trying to translate it to your experiences, choices and options during your pregnancy, labour and birth in the UK. Something to keep in mind maybe?