Time to Reflect on... Information

In this section we invite you to reflect on what you have learned in this chapter. We revisit each lesson and provide some reflection points that relate to its contents. We encourage you to grab a pen and paper and jot down some answers.

Accessing Services

You as an individual:

• How strong is your knowledge of national, regional and local services for dads, including hyper-local digital networks such as local parenting Whatsapp groups and social media channels that dads could access?

• Where in your role could you weave in conversations about what’s available to dads?

You as part of the system:

• What other contact points with dads are there in your system where dads could be made aware of what’s available to them?

Being a Supporter

You as an individual:

• How much do you consider or think about dads’ role in providing support to the baby’s antenatally and postnatally?

• How confident do you feel in providing dads with practical tips to support the baby’s mum, including having conversations about perinatal mental health?

You as part of the system:

• Are dads routinely included in conversations about how the baby’s other parent is doing and what support they need?

• When there are concerns for the person who has given birth, how often is consideration given to the role of a dad in supporting them and what can be done to better equip a dad to support?

Bonding with Baby

You as an individual:

• At what point in the baby’s development do you interact with dads and how confident do you feel in understanding the ways that they can bond with their baby at that point?

• Are there ways that you can have more conversations about bonding in your interactions?

You as part of the system:

• How important is the role of a co-parent considered to be in the system you are in? What indicators are there of this?

Relationship Changes

You as an individual:

• When you interact with dads, how much do you talk to them about intimate, familial and friend relationships?

• Are there ways that you can support dads to prepare their relationships for the stressful postnatal period at times when they are feeling well-resourced?

You as part of the system:

• How much are parents view and treated as equal co-parents by your system? You might want to think about things like language, amount of time spent with parents in different roles and how services are marketed. 

• How does your system enable connections between the dads that interact with it?