In my work as a midwife, I am always very interested in the family dynamics as a new baby comes into the family. One of the areas of interest for me in the fathers. So much time and attention is spent on mothers and infant bonding. There is just not much research of father bonding or information about the positive aspects of becoming a father.
I often watch as the women who are in my care, bring other women with them to appointments. Dad are expected to be at "Big" appointments, like blood work or ultrasounds. In many cases I do not even meet dads until I am catching their son or daughter.
Over the years I have seen a shift in this thinking and a more active roles for dads. It's a positive change that I think is very important. The early interactions with their infants are so important. I see a change happen over the next 6 weeks postpartum in the involved dads. I came across this article and I was happy to see there is some science brewing around the changes taking places in dads, after their offspring as born.
Here is the link: https://www.wired.com/2014/07/how-becoming-a-father-changes-your-brain/
I hop research continues in this area. I feel it would help bring a cultural change to the father/child dynamic and help men to explore their nurturing side. I would like to see that nurturing become part of what is considered masculine.
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