We call on the NCT to end all discriminatory practices

NCT Management

The NCT - National Childbirth Trust - is the largest parenting support charity in the UK. Those who deliver NCT services to parents - practitioners (NCTPs) - are self employed, with few employment rights or protections. Despite this, the NCT maintains high levels of monitoring and control, knowing that many practitioners are dependent on their NCT income and are fearful of speaking out.

Following the withdrawal of assessments by trained peers, client feedback is now considered the only measure of the quality of the sessions that a practitioner delivers. A practitioner could teach 1,000 people a year and 30 of them rate the course negatively. This leads to humiliating and threatening monitoring practices which in some cases go on for a period of a year or more. These processes are damaging practitioners' mental health and wellbeing.

This process is critically impacting black and brown practitioners, who are likely to receive more negative feedback than their white counterparts. When practitioners should be protected from racist clients, they are instead seeing racially biased feedback being used as a means of excessive monitoring and even threats to have their licence to practice removed.

IWGB union members invite all NCT Practitioners and those who support them to sign the letter below. Once we have gathered more than 50 names, we will show the letter to management with the names listed. Even if you have not faced treatment like this, please stand with those who have.

This letter has been coordinated by the IWGB Charity Workers Branch. Join here: iwgb.org.uk/join/charity-worker

To: NCT Management
From: [Your Name]

As NCT Practitioners and those who support them, we are taking a stand against ‘quality assurance’ procedures that are leading to skilled, knowledgeable and experienced NCTPs – often with over a decade of service – feeling bullied, gaslighted and victimised.

The current process that Practitioners can be put through on the basis of the opinion of one client has left our colleagues, our sisters, demoralised, undermined and even suicidal.

This does not improve services – which, of course, we all see as a goal for our practice. We would like NCT to treat Practitioners with the respect we deserve.

We call on NCT to:

1. End ongoing discriminatory assessments and monitoring of practitioners of colour;

2. End all discriminatory practices including keeping things on file for an unspecified amount of time;

3. Stop the use of client feedback as part of the quality control process.