New Dads Stress Differently Than New Moms

Stressing about the arrival of a new baby is usually always relegated to new mommies. Bodily changes, life post-baby, and contemplating the role of being parent is primarily considered mommy turf. Yet some new findings suggest that men struggle with a lot of the same issues but through a different lense.

According to TIME, ladies tend to interpret the aforementioned as “emotional stressors.” Men respond to the same challenges, but much in the way that they deal with “financial stressors” :

While expectant mothers concentrate on the prenatal period, men tend to focus on the future, fretting about how they’re going to afford diapers and child care. It’s an important distinction and one that should be pointed out to doctors, nurses, midwives and social workers who take care of pregnant women, says [ManSoo] Yu.

Yu also suggests that there aren’t enough resources out there to help men cope with the changes associated with becoming a father, such as how to properly care for the mother, improving communication skills, and stress management. Yu’s research may also shed some light on squabbling soon-to-be parents not communicating efficiently during pregnancy:

Data from the research also revealed that men and women doled out support in different ways. Women gave their partners emotional support while men offered tangible support, helping with specific tasks.

Considering that there seem to be more and more dedicated daddies, their needs certainly have a place at the doctor’s office and even in prenatal care. Helping fathers become even better, more involved parents ultimately benefits families. Developing prenatal care to address these specific issues for daddies could do nothing but contribute to the number of actively parenting dads.

(photo: amrufm)

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