Released on: 19 July 2011

Becoming a dad is a wonderful experience, but it can be a challenging experience for lots of dads. On Father’s Day this year, NCT, the UK’s largest charity for parents, is reaching out to support more dads across the country with the help of BabyBjörn, the world leader in top quality nursery products.

NCT has a long history of providing reliable information and support for parents and recognises the important role that dads play. According to NCT’s research by Ipsos Mori, 80% of adults (aged 15-45) think support given to new dads is just as important for the well being of the child, as support given to new mothers.¹

 

To help make life easier for dads, NCT and BabyBjörn have joined forces to provide more dads with the information and support they need.  Dads coming along to NCT events will now get a welcome pack of information and resources specifically for them.   Including a dads booklet and an NCT Daddy Cool DVD, dads can use the pack to help them handle changes to their lifestyle, and the major questions that fatherhood throws up.

 

Miranda Seymour Smith, NCT’s Director of Operations says: “NCT recognises men have different needs to women when it comes to becoming a parent and that dads need help too – all too often the focus is on the mother. Our resources are a must for any man who is about to find out just what it means to become a dad. They’re frank, fair and realistically portray what being the father of a new baby is truthfully like.  Dads have an important role to play and becoming a dad for the first time is a major life event - relationships change, finances are affected and there’s a whole range of responsibilities. It’s a time of joy, celebration and pride but can also be a time of worry. Our resources will help dads to understand that other dads have the same doubts and worries as they do and that it’s OK to be unsure and ask for help. With this new partnership we can make these resources available to more and more dads”

 

The NCT dads’ booklet has been written by dads for dads. It explains the options available when making key decisions and covers topics such as understanding the different stages of pregnancy, developing a birth plan, changing lifestyles and relationships, juggling life as a parent, managing finances and the joys of fatherhood.

 

The DVD, ‘Daddy Cool’, combines reliable information from NCT experts with interviews from three dads-to-be who share their real-life experiences, as well as James McQuillan, BBC Apprentice runner up 2009 who commentates from his experience as a new dad. The DVD follows the dads through the final stages of their partner’s pregnancy, and covers live birth and the first six weeks of their new baby’s life. The DVD explores the dads’ roles and choices; the way they feel about becoming a dad and how they get to grips with their new responsibilities.

 

The partnership with BabyBjörn will also allow NCT to make it easier for dads to find dad information online, and will allow dads attending NCT antenatal classes hands-on practice using a BabyBjörn baby carrier, which dads really enjoy wearing. Carriers allow dads the close bonding experience of having their baby on their chest, and to experience the calming sensation as their baby relaxes to the sound of their heat beat. Closeness from day one!

 

Björn Jakobson, founder and Managing Director of BabyBjörn AB said: “I realised that a BabyBjörn baby carrier would make it easier for fathers to forge emotional bonds with their child at an early stage in the child’s life. This was in the early 1970s, when it was almost inconceivable for a man to carry his child in a baby carrier. Our focus on dads has never changed and BabyBjörn continues to develop designs that appeal to both parents. Now dads all over the world enjoy having their babies safe and close to their heart a BabyBjörn baby carrier."

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