How Dads Can Get Involved In Postpartum Life

There are so many ways that dads can get involved in postpartum life to support their wives. Here are three big ones that will help you know how.

Be Present

This is huge. Dads, you have to be present when your wife just gave birth to your child! It’s the necessary first step to getting more involved in postpartum life. If you’re not at home, you’re going to miss the opportunities to support your wife, especially for the first child since that’s when everything is new and crazy. Being present means that dad is available to help for whatever may come up.

I’m not just talking about supporting in the practical things, but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The weeks after welcoming your child into the world are a sweet and precious time for bonding with each other and the baby. Trust, intimacy, and harmony are all cultivated in the marriage relationship when dad chooses to be present in the new life of the mom. She feels secure knowing your love and faithfulness. You build harmony as you take on a whole new range of tasks and challenges together. Also, you feel intimate as you delight in your new baby.

Support Your Wife In The Details

Supporting your wife in the details is something every dad can get involved in. There is so much to do when the baby comes. Do as much as you can. Clean the house, cook the dinner, feed the pets, wash the dishes – anything that will alleviate your wife’s responsibilities is hugely helpful for her so that she can rest and focus on loving baby. Washing the breast pump and formula bottles was a repetitive task that I tried very hard to take up. It was not easy, but Eunice was grateful.

As you seek to be present and supportive, you will inadvertently discover new ways to involve yourself in postpartum life. I discovered bringing water and snacks to my wife while she breastfed always brightened her mood. Breastfeeding was a really tiring task for her! Your wife might really appreciate the perfectly placed pillow for her back or elbow when she’s rocking baby to sleep. Or she might love a message or some time off. Whatever you can do, involve yourself in the details, and your wife will be well supported.

Care For Your Baby In Every Way You Can

The last way a dad can get involved in postpartum life is by caring for his baby. If you think about it, it’s possible for the dad to do everything required in caring for a baby except breastfeeding. Even then dads can help by bottle-feeding. I’m not advocating that moms and dads are synonymous, or that the mom is no longer needed. I’m advocating for dads to get more involved.

This means changing diapers, dressing baby, bathing and washing, medicating, burping, soothing, and then some. Have extended periods of skin to skin contact with your baby. Sing and read to them.Lastly, connect emotionally with your child by coming to their call and comforting him or her.

Don’t allow parents, in-laws, relatives, or friends to push you away from your baby. Often times they will consider dads to be senseless or incompetent to properly care for their babies. Prove them wrong, don’t prove them right.

So yes, dads can get involved in postpartum life. They can be a force of help and support for their wives in these difficult seasons of life.

How have you involved yourself? How was your husband sought to help you through postpartum life? Let us know below!