An essential role

The father's role is very different to the mother's, but essential for a balanced family life:
"it takes two to create a child, and it takes two to bring up a child. The father shouldn't be excluded by a mother who's too focused on her baby, and he shouldn't exclude himself by  telling himself that he'll be more of a father to the baby later on."

Even if he recognises himself as a father the moment he takes his child in his arms, the dad-to-be's physical role before the birth remains crucial. To such a point that our expert says a father who doesn't turn up to appointments, doesn't ask questions about how the pregnancy's going or continues to act as if nothing's happening, is unwittingly sending out worrying signs for his future relationship with his child.

To detect this type of difficulty, Daniel Bailly would like to see prenatal or preparatory classes created specially for future dads: "The presence of fathers at ante-natal classes is a good start, but these don't cater to the specific needs of dads-to-be."