Having a premature, ill or disabled baby brings huge challenges to a family. It can be one of the most overwhelming and stressful experiences a parent can have – either a mum or a dad – but sometimes dads are in danger of being overlooked, because most of the focus will be on mum who has just given birth and the baby who is in need of special care.
Friends, family and work colleagues will ask every day how mum and the baby are doing but they very often forget to ask how you dad is doing. And unlike women, men are not always good at finding someone to talk to about their situation, so that a lot of the time, they carry their fears, concerns and stress on their own. They feel that they have to be very strong for their partner, and often this means that they do not want to show any sign of sadness of fear. But those feelings are there – and if they go unacknowledged dads are at risk of depression and ill health.
At TinyLife we understand what dads are going through and we are there for you. We do run parent groups where dads are very welcome to attend - but we also understand that not all men will want to come along to a group where the core focus is talking about your experiences or feelings. We know that you might prefer to get involved in an event or a fundraising activity with other dads, supporting one another indirectly, as well as making a very useful contribution to TinyLife and hence to other families. Please contact us on 028 9081 5050 or email us if you would like to hear more about how we can help one another.
Also - in our experience - dads like to get as much information as possible, so don’t forget that our resource and information library is there for you if you would like information on parenting your premature, ill or disabled baby.
