Elizabeth Duff’s NCT story started in 1984 when she was pregnant with her first child. 32 years later she’s still very much involved with the charity, influencing policy in her role at NCT as Senior Policy Adviser- and recently enjoyed a branch reunion.
I did an NCT antenatal class and about a week after my first daughter was born, I had a phone call from somebody at NCT inviting me to a coffee morning the following week at a house about 2 miles away.
My first thought was that there was no chance whatsoever of being up and out of the house by 11am, and able to get me and baby to a house I had never visited before. But, to my own surprise, I did!
The host was Doro Marden, a woman who – I now know – went on to work extensively and successfully in parenting education. She was extremely calm and welcoming, in spite of having TWO small children – a circumstance I regarded at that time as literally undoable, given that my one baby was taking up 24 hours of my day!
While still dazed by sleep deprivation, I agreed that I might be able to take on the running of a postnatal support group, and eventually found another local mum with whom to share this role.
Names and phone numbers were fed through to us and we formed a group of about 12 families, all living in local streets, who met at least once a week for coffee and a chat.
My daughters have absolutely no idea how this could have been achieved without Internet, email, mobile phones, Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp! But we did it with landlines, postcards and knocking on doors. So I got a lot out of NCT – and NCT got a lot out of me!
Being a Policy Adviser at NCT involves something new and different every week. I try to keep aware of developments in national policy across the UK in our areas of interest and, where possible, influence that policy in a positive way for new parents and their families.
I try to influence policy in a positive way for new parents.
‘Influencing’ includes communicating with people in government, in civil service departments, in the NHS, in professional associations and in partner charities who share our aims and values.
Ways of working include anything from an individual phone call to sitting on a national review team, and from drafting a contribution to Twitter to co-authoring an article for The Lancet.
The North-West London branch reunion was an idea that coincidentally arose just about the time of NCT’s 60th birthday. Luckily, I kept in touch with a close neighbour who continued her NCT work as a teacher and postnatal leader until very recently, so she brought me in.
It was a bring-a-dish supper with mountains of delicious food. But the most nourishing thing was hearing of people’s activities after they moved on from NCT work including running a local Homestart, organising London guided walks and chairing the allotment association. There were endless examples of creative, cultural and charitable work mostly as a result of early experience with NCT.
Comments after the event included: ‘What a wonderful display of talent and dedicated work and careers!’; ‘Everyone looked strong and amazing still’; ‘NCT was very special to us all in those years because we were all passionate about birth and breastfeeding – and how empowering it is sitting with you strong women!‘
Birth itself has not really changed, though the options are arguably broader – both at the high-tech and the low-tech ends of the spectrum. The most obvious change is communication.
In 1984, I bought a stack of books about birth and parenting; I used pen and paper to make notes; and I telephoned people from our landline. My daughter does all of this with her iPhone.
Luckily, mothers also have hugely improved maternity leave and benefits, though fathers have not gained as much. There is still widespread discrimination against pregnant women and mothers in the workplace, regrettably.
This is one reason I enjoy the work I do for NCT today – and why the charity is so important 60 years later–in trying to influence change for the better for new parents.
If you’d like to tell us about your story or NCT group, email nctmatterseditor@nct.org.uk. We’d love to hear from you!
