MEN SIGN UP FOR “MANTENATAL” CLASSES
Fathers to be are being encouraged to sign up for Britain's first "mantenatal" classes to help them prepare for impending fatherhood.
The classes are run by Britain's only fully-qualified male antenatal educator, builder Dean Beaumont, in partnership with Peterborough City Hospital, Cambridgeshire. He holds his DaddyNatal classes at a number of locations after office hours.
The classes are run exclusively for men, and Dean enforces a strict ban on women for the two-day course to allow men to chat openly about their fears.
Dean set up the classes in April 2010, and uses a wide variety of techniques and discussions - including showing clips from Monty Python - to highlight issues and concerns men may have about pregnancy, labour, birth and bonding with newborn babies.
Dean said: "There are traditional antenatal classes for couples, but what we do is look at it from a slightly different perspective," said Mr Beaumont.
"We can use male humour that perhaps wouldn't go down so well in a mixed setting.
The classes will run initially as a trial from May-July, and if it proves successful could be rolled out into other hospitals around the UK.
Posted by Robert Mair on 11.5.11 Comment on this article by sending it to: penny.hosie@pavpub.com
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