The best £300 I ever spent

I really thought I’d be bored and lonely on maternity leave.

These days, I laugh in the face of boredom. Though I might not want to put on a 57th load of washing, there is ALWAYS something to do. But loneliness? That’s real. Maternity leave is amazing in so many ways, but when you’re used to adult conversation and routine, the sudden transition to nursery rhymes and endless days can be jarring as heck.

My partner was a bit sniffy when I said I wanted to do NCT and, to be fair, I was pretty sure I’d made a catastrophic mistake when they emailed to say “bring a cushion to sit on.” Let’s be honest – when you’re 7 months pregnant and waddling like a hippo, sitting on anything other than a giant armchair is a hard no.

(We thought we were going to be sitting in a circle on the floor. My partner threatened to get up, walk out and never come back if we were forced to sit cross legged à la school assembly, and I’m sure I’d have followed him, but I’d have been stuck on the floor like a beached whale.) 

Anyway, turns out they did have chairs, but they were made of spindly metal and pain, so the course leader was just trying to save us a numb bum. Bless her. 

Now, I’m not going to lie and say I learnt everything I needed to know from these classes. And whose bright idea was it to make the sessions 2.5 hours long, finishing at 9.45pm?! Cushion or no cushion, there was no protecting my backside from that. So, if you’re asking whether I’d recommend the syllabus… it’s probably a no. HOWEVER.

The friends I made at NCT are my ride or dies. We’ve been there for each other through C sections and forceps deliveries, sleepless nights and feed refusals, teething and tantrums. We share our frustrations and our funniest moments (nobody tells you how hilarious babies are.) We’ve met up every Wednesday for over a year, and if work didn’t have the audacity to get in the way, I’m sure we’d never stop.

There are some things money can’t buy. My NCT course fees didn’t prepare me for childbirth – I had a C section so most of what I learnt went completely out the window. Would I spend £300 on learning about labour again? No, I’d just embrace the mystery. 

But my god, am I glad I parted with the money. Making mum friends has been the making of my maternity leave. 

£300 well spent.