Geddes said she ” was told by antenatal teachers during pregnancy, things like if I have an epidural, I’m more likely to have a caesarean section or more likely to have a forceps delivery.” Both of which proved to be untrue when she looked into the research.
Kirstie Allsopp then tweeted “Turn to BBC Radio 4 for talk of a book about all the absurd myths surrounding pregnancy & birth. More NCT b******* as usual though. Lots of people have good NCT experiences, but many don’t. This is a very politicised, dogmatic and in my experience, scary organisation.”
Despite the Chief Executive Belinda Phipps, saying: ‘The NCT encourage feedback on all our courses and ask anyone who isn’t satisfied to contact us directly” – Kirstie tweets received a barrage of outraged comments from NCT supporters and teachers. Many of whom said that she shouldn’t be criticising the NCT.
My feelings are if you offer public courses like the NCT do you should be open to constructive criticism about how they are taught and what is taught. I know lots of mums who couldn’t fault the information they received from the NCT. Personally, I was one of the people who didn’t get good info. The ‘facts’ I was given on pain relief during birth led me to make a series of decisions I regretted when my first child was born. I researched the topic again before my second child and it was then that I realised much of what I had been told by my NCT teacher wasn’t from scientific evidence.
Did it make me angry? Yes, but then I put it down to the teacher I got, not the NCT as a whole. But what do you think? Were the NCT amazing or patchy with you? Was Kirstie right? Let me know.