Don't you just love The Daily Mail?
They have some great stories... Here's one of my 'favourites' of recent times.
Incase you simply can't bring yourself to click on a Daily Mail link and spend any amount of your precious time on their website... this article states that "many" women spend their first night (after the happiest and most exhilarating moment of their life), feeling vulnerable, exposed and fearful of their own and their baby's safety... Why? Because of Dads.
It's a clear attack on dads. Dads who have the right to be with their wife and their baby, just like mums have those rights too. Dads who are finally just starting to see a shift in parental equality.
One mum was quoted in the article saying, "I have no problem with male midwives or male nurses - they're just doing their jobs - but when you've got strange men milling around, especially at night, it is a big deal."
So all dads are strange men? What about strange women? Strangeness isn't conditioned to just men? Soon they'll be mums crying out to prevent dads from taking their kids to school or the local park because it's perceived that all pedophiles are men!
Another example was a mum quoted saying, 'One time I was changing my pad when he actually knocked on the door and asked how long I was going to be. I felt so vulnerable and intimidated.' Maybe he was asking because his wife needed to go? Did this ever cross her mind?
Obviously, if the NHS trust have put guidelines in place about which toilets to use and noise levels etc, then these should be adhered to, but it has to come down to each couples personal preferences. Some dads might love to go home for one last uninterrupted nights sleep, but others might want to stay.
The notion that all dads are intimidating, unruly, thoughtless, threatening and perverts is completely unacceptable.
After reading this article, I decided to find out if it was just me being over sensitive or whether i had a point. I put it in our forum and I ask our network of dads. It seems I am not the only dad outraged!
"Ugh. Disappointed that I actually clicked the link on that crap and gave the author exactly what she wanted for that click bait hit piece. I stayed overnight with my wife and wouldn't have it any other way."
"My wife would've gone abroad for delivery if I were excluded."
"Nothing would have stopped me being by my wife's side when she had our first. It's a fathers right to be there. I was offered an uncomfortable arm chair which was impossible to sleep in. Instead I spent the entire night staring at my amazing boy."
"That's right! All men are a threat, disrespectful, and are only staying on the ward overnight because they want to make women feel uncomfortable! What a pile of bigoted rubbish!"
And it wasn't just dads in outrage!
"Worried about their child's security?! He is a man....not a monster who is also feeling vulnerable after his child being delivered and has the same worries about his child! "
"I had women on my ward who snored and spoke on their mobiles till all hours. It's ridiculous to think only men do this!!!"
"It's an important time for the fathers as well as the mothers."
"Do these women think these men are going to rape/attack them in the night? Of so that's their own issue of being paranoid"
As far as I can see this comes down to the hospital in which your child is born. Some hospitals have maternity wards, in which a number of mums and their babies share a ward often separated by only a curtain. Other hospitals provide private rooms for mum and baby, some free and some for a fee. I think this is more the issue here. I imagine every mum would appreciate privacy after giving birth. And I imagine every dad would love that too. Sadly this isn't always the case. However, the finger cannot be pointed at dads. It should be pointed at the hospital concerned.
The parenting journey starts even before the birth. I, for one, became very attached to my wife's bump and our baby growing inside her. However, from the minute your baby is born you are parents in the true sense of the word. It is vital for both mum and dad to bond and experience those first special moments, hours and days together. For dad to help mum heal, love her, care for her and care for his baby in the same way that mum would. Dad should not be sent home. Dad should not be treated like a visitor and dad should not be treated like an intruder. He should be treated as a parent that has just experienced the most wonderful gift on earth. The birth of his child. Let him celebrate. Let him cherish and let him love.
What do you think? Is this just the typical Daily Mail or am I in the wrong?