The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (The New Father Book 1)

by Armin A. Brott

Among the first major questions you and your partner will face after learning she’s pregnant are: Where are we going to have the baby? Who’s going to help us deliver it? How much is it all going to cost? To a certain extent, the answers will be dictated by your health insurer, but there are still a range of options to consider. As you weigh all your choices, give your partner at least 51 percent of the vote. After all, the ultimate decision really affects her more than it does you.

If your partner wasn’t physically active before pregnancy, this isn’t the time for her to take up rock climbing or start training for a marathon. That doesn’t mean, however, that she should spend the entire pregnancy on the sofa. Getting exercise is critical (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—CDC—recommends thirty minutes per day of moderate exercise). It will help improve her circulation and keep her energy level high. Exercising during pregnancy may also help your partner keep her weight gain steady and reasonable, help her sleep better, improve her mood, and reduce some of the normal pregnancy-related discomforts. Plus, it will improve her strength and endurance, both of which will come in very handy during labor and delivery. Researchers James Clapp and Elizabeth Noble found that women who exercise during the pregnancy have shorter labors and give birth to healthier babies. Others, including Bradley Price, have found that exercise may even lessen the chance that your partner will deliver prematurely, have complications during labor, or need a Cesarean section. Finally, there’s Canadian neuroscientist Dave Ellemberg, who found that compared to couch-potato expectant moms, pregnant women who did twenty minutes of moderate exercise (leading to slight shortness of breath by the end) three times per week had babies with “more mature cerebral activation.” Translation: their brains developed more quickly. Ellemberg believes that those

In fact, a growing body of solid research is finding that what a woman eats while she’s pregnant can directly—and permanently—affect the baby’s long-term health and risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other diseases.

Folate (or folic acid) is a B vitamin that plays an important role in preventing neural tube defects, which are major defects of the brain and/or spine. These defects happen in the first few weeks of pregnancy—often before a woman knows she’s pregnant. Since about half of all pregnancies are unplanned, experts recommend that every woman of childbearing age take a folate supplement, just in case. Your partner should get around 600 micrograms per day during the pregnancy. Some docs bump that to 800 micrograms per day for the first trimester. Folate is so important that many grain products, including some flours, pastas, and cereals, are fortified with it. Additional good sources of folate include asparagus, avocados, bananas, beans, beets, broccoli, citrus fruits, dark green veggies, eggs, lentils, seeds and nuts, and yogurt.

How much child care are you planning to do when the baby comes? How much is your partner expecting you to do? How much are you expecting her to do? This is going to sound harsh, but the reality is that you’ll be as involved with your children as your partner will let you be.