When did Birth Become Daddy’s Business?

The days are getting longer and the water is warming up which can only mean that Daddy

Doula Day is fast approaching. This is our second year to hero the special support in our lives.

Birth is women’s business. When did birth become daddy’s business?

That’s what we have all grew up knowing. The dad stays outside the room, pacing up and down the corridor, waiting to hear the cries of their child and then off to update the friends and family and celebrate by ‘wetting the head’.

We are living in the first generation where men are in the birthing room and we at She Births® are helping define their role and empower them with tools to rock it!

When Nadine Richardson created She Births® 10 years ago, one of her motivations was to be able to skill up dads to be the support that the mums needed. It is now a huge decision factor as to why couples choose She Births®. The term Daddy Doula came out of these amazing dads actively taking part in this the most important event in their lives, the birth of their child. Babies are co-created, co-birthed and co-parented.

And we love seeing and hearing how excited Dads are about their new found purpose in the birth. Benji and Zoe Marshall recently welcomed their first child into the world and Benji talks openly about how his perception of birth and his involvement was very different after the course. He said “I felt really empowered. I understood how important the support partner’s role is and how I can make it better for her. I understood the tools and the parts that I could help and contribute to her giving birth. I felt I could contribute and had a way for me to feel that I was part of it”. 

We helps dads understand the importance of their role as support and give them the practical tools to help and contribute in the birth. It is a way for them to feel part of it.

We loved reading all of the stories last year and were delighted to award Daddy Doula Bart

He not only supported his wife Cat through an accidental home birth but did so while minding their eldest and to top it off he is blind! The bar is high for this year.

We want to hear about how your loved one supported you and why he should be Daddy Doula 2018. To enter  please email [email protected] with your written story and photos. All entries must be received by August 24th.

We will proudly announce this years winner on September 2.

*As you know at She Births® we support marriage equality and respect the rights of all people regardless of sex, religion, age, gender, ability and lifestyle choice. And we recognise that it’s not always a ‘dad’ that helps mum through birth. Although we have named these awards the ‘Daddy Doula Awards’ please don’t let this discourage you from nominating your birth support partner. Birth is women’s business let’s be honest, so for most blokes it is a big ask to get the courage and the skills up to be actively involved on the day. And for this we say a big THANK YOU!