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Postpartum Dad
Helping With Labor, Delivery and Baby's Homecoming
By Carma Haley
Stell says he was never good at burping his baby. "I would try holding him on my shoulder, on my lap, over my knees – I tried every position that anyone ever suggested to me, but I just couldn't do it," he says. "My wife would then take the baby and with a couple of pats, he would burp with no problem. I guess I just didn't have the touch. But, I kept trying even though I knew he probably wouldn't do it for me."
Babies are wonderful and can add a sense of completion to a family. However, the rounding out of the family doesn't come without work and effort. Babies need love, care and attention – not to mention feeding and changing every three to four hours. But if parents work together and become partners in caring for their new baby, the effort as well as the rewards are shared by all.
"We should stop thinking of the father's role as 'helping' the mother," Deutsch says. "Two people become parents with the birth of a child. Equally shared childcare benefits mothers, babies and fathers. The equally sharing fathers I interviewed all made some sacrifices, but all felt they had gained gifts that were priceless – the respect and gratitude of their wives, a close loving relationship with their children, and the pride of developing in ways they had not believed possible.
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