Free service launches in Stoke-on-Trent to help new dads find their feet

A first of its kind mobile phone app is being made available to dads across Stoke-on-Trent to help them through the process of becoming a parent.

'DadPad' has been developed to help with things like changing nappies, feeding, even holding a newborn child for the first time.

It's also been created with a focus on helping to ease the burden on the mother.

Julian Bose is the man behind it all. He told us he created it because babies don't come with instructions.

"We had health visitors doing their pre-birth visit or post birth visit and we observed dads having very little communication or engagement during the process." said Julian.

"They were often seen to be looking quite scared in the corner of the kitchen or going off upstairs, when actually they need to be a real part of the conversation to help mum and themselves prepare for the birth. So we started developing some books, then guides, so that dads don't keep having to elbow mum in the ribs and say, What do I do?"

"It also means people like a mother-in-law or other grandparents would in some scenarios come in and start to take over things when they saw dad struggling, which later on means he's not really got the skills to look after the baby and mums were quite hesitant to have him in charge of the baby because he didn't know what to do, the dads felt that pushed out. So this is about empowering dads to be in that space and build confidence and kind of bust some of the myths that they have about only getting involved in baby stop moving, ultimately they need to be involved a lot earlier.

"We co-produced it with dads, families, GPS, health professionals, midwives, health visitors, even grandparents - to look at topics that dads should have right at the beginning of their journey as a parent when that baby arrives. And we put it all in this guide and in the app, and got it out there."

Julian added: "Part of the reason we're doing this is pre and postnatal mental health for mums is a big issue.

"There's a massive spend it for NHS services but what we haven't got is how we can prevent this.

"The earlier we can get dads on side understanding what the signs and symptoms are for mum and himself - because men are really affected too, one in eight men suffer postnatal depression - and what we want to make sure is that they're checking out how they're feeling and thinking about things as early as possible. And there is help out there."

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