Dads join in with bringing up baby (From Messenger Newspapers)

Dads join in with bringing up baby

12:10pm Monday 18th February 2013 in News

MORE than 9,000 people in the area have signed up to get online advice about bringing up baby – and almost 3,000 of those are dads, according to new figures released by the Department of Health today.

A total of 2,675 dads in the North West are among 25,000 across England equipping themselves to take a leading role in caring for their babies by actively seeking NHS parenting advice.

These figures, collected in December 2012, show for the first time who is signing up to the Information Service for Parents, an online service for help and advice about all aspects of parenthood.

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said: “It is great news that so many North West dads have taken the chance to sign up for the NHS Information Service for Parents.

“A new baby is a wonderful thing but can be stressful, and it is important mums and dads do everything they can to share the load. Dads make up a quarter of signups to the service – which is encouraging - but we want to see those numbers increase even more.

“Most pregnant women want their partners to be involved throughout pregnancy, childbirth and beyond and this desire is also shared by most partners. We recently announced £25 million of funding to improve NHS maternity units which, among other things, will be used to make it easier and more comfortable for dads to support their partners and be more involved.”

The Information Service for Parents gives free advice from a trusted source via email, texts and videos on a range of topics including choosing the right childcare, how babies develop, what immunisations baby needs and how to deal with sleepless nights.