Get Ready for a New Career with NCT College

Looking for a change of career to something you can fit around your family? How about retraining to work with other new parents?

NCT, the UK’s largest charity for parents, has teamed up with the University of Worcester to provide university-accredited training for practitioners. NCT College admissions are open now for courses beginning in September 2012.

It’s likely either yourself or a friend will have been to an NCT antenatal course, a breastfeeding drop-in or another service provided by one of the charity’s practitioners. For Nikki Ford, an NCT antenatal teacher from Doncaster, it was personal experience which led her to train herself.

Nikki says: “I first got involved with NCT when I took my oldest along to a Bumps & Babies group. Before I knew it I was on the

committee and responsible for booking parents-to-be on courses in our area.

“When I got pregnant again, I booked onto an antenatal course myself. Watching how the teacher delivered the classes, getting everyone involved and having a bit of fun, I knew this was what I wanted to do. The training was flexible, so I only had to travel to one tutorial a month. I enjoyed meeting new people at different stages in the training. I even had a break when I had another baby.”

The new courses for practitioners at the University of Worcester allow students to learn through a mixture of tutorials, one-to-one time with tutors and online learning. The flexibility is ideal for those with a young family. The varied syllabus offers plenty of choice. The new Certificate of Higher Education – Birth and Beyond Practitioner can be completed over one or two years, after which students can begin a year of probationary practice and start earning an income right away.

They can then choose from a range of modules from the Foundation Degree course, whether they want to train as an antenatal teacher, breastfeeding counsellor, postnatal leader or NCT Doula, or run NCT Yoga for Pregnancy classes.

Fourteen years after she qualified, Nikki is still teaching antenatal

courses, as well as Yoga for Pregnancy. She says: “There’s a certain amount of juggling to fit everything in around my family, but that’s why the flexibility of being a practitioner is so fantastic. I know in advance when my husband will be working, and can fit my work around his.” In the climate of an ever-increasing birth rate and overstretched maternity services, there couldn’t be a better time to build a fulfilling career working alongside midwives to support new parents.

Nikki says: “I enjoy working with health professionals, most of whom know of NCT and respect the work the charity does. The most rewarding thing, though, is watching the parents growing and changing – seeing them at my Yoga for Pregnancy classes at the start of their second trimester, and then at our local Bumps & Babies group after they have their babies, brimming with confidence, drinking tea together and swapping tips with the other mums.

“I love what I do, and can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s given me a calling.”

If you are interested in finding out more about training or a career with NCT, visit http://www.nct.org.uk/nct-college for information about the range of courses on offer.

April 2012

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