by Bruce Linton, Ph.D.

Welcome to your first month of fatherhood! You have arrived home from the hospital proud, excited and perhaps a bit exhausted from the experience of childbirth. What's next?

Preparing for birth is all consuming and most expectant fathers don't think too much about what happens after they get home with their wife and new baby. The birth experience creates intense emotions. You have a new sense of yourself. You are not just a man, but a father! The pregnancy and birth are the beginning of a lifelong journey of becoming a parent and being a dad. You will need the next few months, perhaps the whole next year, to comprehend your new role. ... read more >>

As a writer, I love a good story, and I couldn't think of a better gift for my little girl than her mom telling the story of how she was born in her own words. So, without further adieu, here's April...

On October 2, we had our regular prenatal classes that evening. After doing our normal stretches and meditation, Carmen, the midwife told me and the other woman who was at 38 weeks that it was time to practice pushing. Knowing that our baby girl was due in two days, I figured it was a good idea. After class, we talked with Carmen rehearsing all the things we needed to do if I went into labour. She mentioned to Kelly that she was going to be on-duty in the hospital on Tuesday night and Thursday morning, so if we wanted her to be there, try to plan accordingly. ... read more >>

When my son was born we lived in Auckland -central Mt Eden,still flatting,as most of my age were doing. Wages were low but we were happy enough in the 70's -still emerging from the rebirth of life as we knew it in the 60's .If you were'nt on drugs you were on flagons of muscatel and very dodgy reds! VERY sophisticated.
My son was late in coming -either that or the doc couldn't count,so the wait and the immediate preamble to his arrival was both expectant and fraught.
In those days (already sounding like I thought my grand parents sounded) information given expectant parents was pretty scant -like it was'nt something you were to be trusted with -or assumed you would'nt understand.
But then it was time - contractions and all the stuff that goes with imminent lift off. ... read more >>

Living overseas and having kids can be a little different, especially when you are half a world away, in a country that doesn’t speak English and family are nowhere to be seen.

In 2003 and again in 2005 my wife and I went through the birthing process, the following are two short excerpts highlighting the key experiences and learnings.

Birth one: Eleanor, Country: Finland

Leading up to and after the birth of Eleanor we were living in Russia (Moscow), but decided that we didn't feel too comfortable putting our trust in the Russian health system, thus we embarked on a Nordic adventure arriving in Finland three weeks before the due date. ... read more >>

The following story is re-published on DIYFather.com with kind permission from www.homebirth.org.nz.

It all started for me some three and a half years ago at an antenatal class - a bunch of expectant first time parents sitting there with a group of strangers wondering, "What the hell am I doing here?" Midwives! Bring on the doctors, the machinery, the drugs and the other wonders of modern science. But there I was, dragged along by my wife's excitement, listening to what I thought at the time was the "hippy" section of the medical profession, subscribing natures way and homeopathic remedies for childbirth. These, I thought, were the people probably not good enough to get a job at the hospitals - HOW WRONG I WAS!

In hindsight, women have been giving birth for quite a few years now and why I thought giving birth in a hospital would be better I have no idea. ... read more >>

For most of our pregnancy the emphasis was on the mother and baby and making sure that they are doing ok, the father is to a certain extent ignored. Now this isn’t a problem but I think fathers go through a change also, what will happen when the baby arrives, are we still going to be able to go out? Basic how will our lives change type of scenario!

If we go back to our original family structure – 1x Man, 1xWoman, 1xDog and 1xCat these made up the family, and then “bang” literally a baby goes straight to the top of the list and supersedes everyone else – followed a very close second by mum, unintentionally the father is pushed to one side, and feels a little bit inadequate almost like he shouldn’t be there! ... read more >>

I was talking to one of the other directors, who are a recent new first time father, and telling him why at the end of the 9 months we only slightly know more then we did back when we first became pregnant.

So does that mean we have No idea at all, will we have to listen to the thousands of random advice that we were given about how to do this and that. And how to raise the child?

I guess this is more support for fathers as to why we have set this website up.

But for fathers out there, who feel slightly bombarded with all the information, and not sure where to start, our website should give them some indication of how/where to obtain information. I said flippantly that I am sure more men research their next car purchase and have all the relevant information available at their fingertips then what’s going to happen once their baby is born!! (FYI – myself included) ... read more >>