Antenatal classes in Auckland

You've probably already looked at these places, but the 2 options we were told of were Birthcare (in Parnell) and Parents Centre. Birthcare is free, Parents Centre costs (you get other stuff too though).

We're going with Parents Centre cos it puts you in touch with other people from the same sort of area (easier for coffee groups).

Hope you can find somewhere suitable!

I did mine through Parents Centre.

Good things - our class has now become a coffee group and we all get along so well. The content of the classes was good, and most of us have gone on to do the Baby & You course (which was excellent), it's sort of a follow-on to the antenatal classes.

Bad things - the woman who led the classes was pretty good for most things but wouldn't give ANY info about caesareans or formula - frustrating given the statistics on people who do go on to do both those things.

I did my antenatal classes at Birthcare Parnell two years ago. They were on a Sunday evening at 7pm. The group was medium-sized -- I think there were about 10 couples in ours -- and were run by one of the midwives there. She was pretty good but did let the class sort of lead itself (hence the first session where the mums talked about what kinds of food you can and can't eat for almost an hour -- SO not what I wanted to spend my time on!). The classes were free but we had to buy the manuals (there was a dad one and a mum one. The dad one was all about what can go wrong and the mum one was all about pain relief. LOL). In general they were pretty good, especially for a free service. They do book up fast so I'd ring them now and try to get a spot!