Pregnancy – An exciting time for fathers
Pregnancy can be an exciting time, both for the expectant mother and the father. There was a time when the father’s role in pregnancy was limited to driving his screaming partner to the hospital, and waiting nervously outside the labour room. With time, the role of father has evolved, for good. Today, a father’s role isn’t just limited to assisting the partner though the pregnancy period, but also to feel the sense of participation for what is approaching them.
Here are a few things fathers can do to show their partners that they are equally excited and scared as their partners.
- Keep track of your baby’s growth: Listen to your baby, understand what she/he is trying to convey through her mother’s womb. Let your partner know how much you enjoy seeing the changes in her body.
- Are you a smoker: If you are a smoker, you should seriously be thinking about give up the habit, at least for the sake of your baby.
- Emotional support: Help her with housework. Don’t complain about her unbearable mood swings or cravings. Try surprising her with something you cooked yourself. You two can spend hours selecting the baby’s name, decorating the nursery, or deciding on other requirements for the baby. Such small things can make your partner really happy. Isn’t that a sign of a healthy baby?
- Accompany her to antenatal classes: Doing that can enable the partner understand what he can do to help his partner relax during the birth of their child. They can also interact with other fathers-to-be in the class. Helping with birth is relatively a new phenomenon for most men but is now accepted as a common practice in western society. Good news, it is catching up in India too
With the exception of carrying the baby, childbirth and breastfeeding, fathers can play the same role as mothers, or perhaps even more. There is no doubt that mothers play a leading role in the lives of their children, but fathers play just as important a role in the physical and emotional development of the child.
