Mumsnet Talk

Hello all!

I'm writing a feature for The Gazette in Blackpool looking at how parents, and in particular dads, are in the need for greater support during and shortly after the birth of their child.

Mothers have an unenviable task, and one that I greatly appreciate, but as a new father myself, I was offered no support through the pregnancy or post-natal, and I don't think that I was fully prepared for the challenges I would face. With recent research showing that up to 10% of dads suffer from post-natal depression too, I'm trying to find out what could be done to help new fathers with regards to their mental health.

I'm also investigating to see whether there's a link between NHS cuts and cases of neglect, as well as links between lack of support and broken families.

I would love to hear from any new dads (first-hand or via their partners) about any help they feel they could have benefited from, as well as mothers who feel that the support they were offered was not as good as they expected, or as good as it once was.

I know that we were visited by the midwife twice after the birth of our son, once two days after the birth, and one six days after. Has this changed from previous standards? Is this enough? I would love to hear from mothers who gave birth at a time when they were visited on a more regular basis, or were kept in hospital for a longer period of time than one day, when we were sent home.

We were also thrown into panic mode when we opening our four-day-old son's nappy to find what looked like blood. It turns out to be the quite common urates, and nothing to worry about. But should we have been warned about it? It would have certainly saved a great deal of worry and a trip to A&E!

While mothers should be given more support, fathers aren't given any. Do you think there's a link between a lack of support for dads and broken families? What about cases of neglect following missed post-natal depression or other problems not spotted due to less contact time with midwives/health visitors?

I'm right at the beginning of my research and would appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or opinions you can offer.

Please be aware that I would love to quote you in my final article, so please state if don't want to be named - I can use your advice to build up a better background knowledge if that's the case.

Thank you for reading and I hope you can share your stories with me.