In this post I am going to explore the widely debated and much discussed topic of what the fathers role in pregnancy actually is.  But what is the ideal fathers role in pregnancy? I am going to write this post entirely from my own personal experience and viewpoint. Hopefully it will resonate with many of you!

I think I would be correct in saying that many fathers or fathers to be at some point will have asked themselves the question “what is the fathers role in pregnancy?” The modern man certainly wants to feel more heavily involved throughout the pregnancy and it is common for men to attend most of the anti-natal classes and baby scans throughout the pregnancy.

From the moment conception has taken place, it becomes a reality that the mother to be will be the only one who will inevitably experience all the changes to her own body, both physical and hormonal as she is the one who will be carrying the baby inside her. She will also be the only one who will ever be able to experience the feeling of the baby growing inside of her, the flutters and the kicks as the baby grows and the experience of labour and giving birth.

Understandably this leads some men to think about the fathers role in pregnancy and how men can generally feel more involved in many different aspects of pregnancy, labour and birth.

FATHERS ROLE IN PREGNANCY – WHAT CAN MEN DO TO FEEL MORE INVOLVED?

Preconception planning. This is something that both mother and father can be involved in for 4-6 months leading up to trying to conceive a baby. The emphasis here is on making necessary lifestyle changes to help ensure healthy quality and quantity of sperm and generally ensuring that both male and female bodies are as healthy as possible from the inside out. Eating healthily, cutting out alcohol and smoking if applicable and taking regular exercise are examples of preconception planning. During the preconception planning process I personally felt like I was playing my part in trying to prepare my sperm for the journey of their lives in trying to produce a new and healthy life!!

Hypnobirthing Classes. My wife and I had hypnobirthing classes during the third trimester when expecting our second son Hugo. We were taught by the fantastic Jane Ingleby and Emily Street from BumpandMe. We both felt that the skills we had learned and practiced from the hypnobirthing classes had made a massive difference to the actual labour and birth. As the father, I personally felt much more involved during the labour and birth of our second son and this was largely due to the fact that hypnobirthing places great emphasis and importance on the fathers role in pregnancy. I was able to help my wife by giving her light touch massage during labour and birth and I was able practice all of the techniques that I was taught to help keep my wife calm and focused during labour and birth.

You can read our detailed birth story here.  If you live anywhere in the North West region of the UK, we would personally highly recommend that you speak to Emily Street and Jane Ingleby here.  These are two incredibly passionate and inspirational people and they will help, support and guide you with your hypnobirth plan. If you are in any other part of the UK then visit thehypnobirthingassociation.com

FATHERS ROLE IN PREGNANCY – VIDEO

FATHERS ROLE IN PREGNANCY – SUMMARY

As a father of two beautiful boys, I personally feel that the fathers role in pregnancy involves the following:

• Preconception planning with the mother to be and encouraging each other to eat healthily and exercise regularly during the pregnancy.
• Take hypnobirthing classes together – I cannot think of a better way for the father to be to become more involved during pregnancy than this.
• Just rest your hand gently on the bump. The longer you leave it there – the more likely you are to be rewarded with any flutters or kicks from the baby that she longs for you to be able to feel.
• Love, help, support and understand your partner at all times – especially during pregnancy as this will lead to a calm natural environment and hopefully a calm and relaxed baby to be…..

We hope you have enjoyed this post and we would greatly appreciate if you could leave a comment below and share and like on Facebook.