Congratulations on your pregnancy!

If you haven’t already done so, make an appointment with your GP to confirm your pregnancy, discuss your antenatal care and your birth place options.

You can now also register for Clapham & District NCT antenatal classes. The best way to book is via the NCT national website, which provides a form through which you can register your interest – the course administrator will get back to you with dates and times of a suitable course (see bottom of this page for registration page link).

Antenatal Classes not only help you prepare for your forthcoming labour and birth but they are also a great place to meet other parents to be from your area – indeed for many people the friendships they make at their NCT classes last for years.

Different antenatal courses will cover different topics. However, generally speaking, courses will cover the following:

• Looking after your own health during pregnancy and after birth (for example, nutrition and pelvic floor exercises)
• What happens during labour and birth
• Coping with labour (including information about pain relief)
• Information about different approaches to birth such as home birth and water birth and how approaches to birth may differ
• The role of the birth partner in labour
• An opportunity to learn about and experiment with different birth positions
• The chance to learn about relaxation techniques (including massage skills and breathing techniques, for example)
• Different approaches to birth
• Less straightforward births such as assisted deliveries and caesarean births
• Looking after and feeding your new born baby
• Preparing for life with a new baby
• Your feelings about pregnancy, birth and the period after the birth
• An opportunity to learn about and experiment with different birth positions

We also run refresher courses (for second+ pregnancy) which include the following:

• Debriefing your previous birth experiences
• Revision of what happens in labour
• Discussions and explanations about how subsequent births are different (such as vaginal birth following a caesarean section)
• Relaxation, breathing and massage
• Informed choice about birth options (birth choices)
• Practising active positions to use in labour
• Interventions in labour (e.g. induction, monitoring)
• Discussing feeding your new baby what went right or wrong before
• Introducing your baby into the family. The course provides an opportunity to take time out and think about your next baby.

Do pregnant women get time off to attend antenatal classes?

All pregnant employees are entitled to time off with pay to keep appointments for antenatal care made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, midwife or health visitor. Antenatal care may include relaxation classes and parent-craft classes. Except for the first appointment, the employee must show the employer, if requested, a certificate from a registered medical practitioner, midwife or health visitor, confirming the pregnancy together with an appointment card or some other document showing that an appointment has been made. http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1111

Clapham & District NCT try to offer a range of course formats to fit in with people’s requirements. However, following the feedback from our antenatal course participants we are finding that people prefer courses that take place during the day. As you near the end of your pregnancy you will start to feel tired in the evening especially if you are working full time up to the end, so take some time out for yourself!

Antenatal classes also introduce your partner to what to expect as a birth companion, and they can take part in discussions about caring for the baby and adjusting to life as a parent as well as lifestyle and relationship changes after the birth. Clapham & District NCT includes classes for partners to attend as well if they are not attending the entire course.

Please fill out all fields on the registration form. We would ask that you provide your home telephone number as we will contact you to arrange the classes usually in the evenings or at weekends. Please could you also give us a home email address so you can be contacted easily once you are on maternity leave. Email registrations will initially be sent an automated email acknowledgement.

Once you have registered we will forward your details to our Parent Services Administrator (PSA), who will start to contact you from week 20 of your pregnancy. We try to speak to you personally to offer a choice of dates and times, but courses do get booked up and we cannot always offer as big a choice as we would like. However despite all the rumours to the contrary most people do get on a course!

Classes tend to take place between week 30 and 36 of your pregnancy

Costs and concessions. Our courses cost between £229 and £259 (including NCT membership) depending on the format. Concessions are available on all courses for families with a low income, for example students and those on benefits. Please email bookings4b@nct.org.uk for further information as NCT actively promotes an inclusive policy.

We do not give out your details to anyone else.

If you have any further questions, please call parent services administrator (PSA) on 0870 220 5862. She has a young family and works from home so may take a day to return your call.