Swimming (bayou butterfly, thank you very much) in the twitstream as we do, we came across this truly fantastic website, aimed at helping fathers get involved during childbirth and the preparation leading up to it. The website, called DaddyNatal says it offers “Practical, memorable and enjoyable antenatal education for men, by men”.
The author of this blog, Dean Beaumont, is to date the only fully qualified male Antenatal Educator in the UK and has two children himself. Mr Beaumont decided to become an Antenatal Educator after he felt he had let down his wife during the birth of their son by not being as prepared as he could have been.
The writing style of the blog is superb; it’s relaxed yet jam-packed with information and very easy to follow and digest. An entry on birth plans makes for very interesting reading and another on empowering families is, in our opinion, spot on.
Another wonderful thing in its favour is that it is a blog for men, written by men but with the kind of curiosity and humility you rarely find on blogs advocating change and support for fathers. Or some blogs advocating change and support for mothers for that matter; but this aside, the tone is perfect – DaddyNatal seeks to inform and empower and above all to be inclusive: perfect ingredients for an enlightened generation of families.
Being an Antenatal Educator, Mr Beaumont also offers workshops for parents which are priced at around £70 and again they are run by men, for men (it’s not clear whether or not mothers may attend with fathers – a possible problem if information is not shared). Also on offer are classes for new dads, which are just for dads and babies. These courses range in location from central London to Peterborough, Kettering and beyond.
Researching Reform particularly liked the Dads Info Centre, which is short but sweet and very, very understanding of what women go through during and after childbirth. Ladies, if your husband or partner does the things Mr Beaumont suggests in his Info Centre, we would modestly suggest you have found a real gem, so hold on to him and the baby, tight! As you can probably tell by now, we found ourselves empathising terribly with new dads…. both men and women with a little baby have to adjust and men need to feel loved too…..
But back to the blog! To add to that lovely inclusive feel, DaddyNatal have a sister site called “Bump, birth and beyond“, which offers classes for mums and couples and if you fancy becoming an educator yourself, Dean offers training courses, too.
As a self confessed if slightly delusional Daddy’s Girl, it warms our heart to see that Dads are slowly coming back into focus, back into the folds of family, where they belong.
For its creativity, its important work and its wonderful wisdom, our Spotlight this week is on DaddyNatal; we hope you’ll enjoy looking around their site!
