DadPad

The DadPad is the essential guide for new dads, developed by the team at Inspire Cornwall CIC with the NHS.  Inspire Cornwall is a Community Interest Company, operating on a profit-for-purpose basis, which means using our profits to further the social purpose of the company; for us, this means investing in dads and parents by developing new products which enable us to expand, grow and improve our offer.

Who is the DadPad for?
The DadPad is for all fathers who want to give their child the very best start in life. Whether he is about to become a first-time dad or wants to ensure that he can still cover all the bases with a new addition to the family, the DadPad is the low-cost, high-value resource that dad will want to have within arm’s reach at all times.

Why do new dads need it?
As a new dad, it’s common to feel excited but also left out, unsure or overwhelmed.  The DadPad provides dad with the practical skills and information that he needs, which helps him become more confident in his new role.  This enables him to not only feel included and involved as a parent, but also to become an active and engaged co-parent, alongside baby’s mum.  As an ally to his partner, he will be best placed (and now also sufficiently informed) to be able to spot potential issues within the family unit and to know the steps to take to resolve these.  Knowledge of the roles played by health professionals will encourage him to seek and welcome their advice and support when necessary.

How should healthcare professionals be using this resource with families?
It’s important to remember that the DadPad and DadPad app have many more intended purposes than ‘just’ being a guidebook or resource to help dads-to-be and new dads find out more about the skills need to be a hands-on father.  It’s also designed to be used by front-line healthcare professionals as an embedded engagement tool, as part of their organisation’s whole-family approach to perinatal care.  This can be by using DadPad resources to:

• Engage and build a relationship with dad, so that he knows he can trust and be honest with the professional about his fears, worries and questions, and confidently share any concerns he has in relation to his own, his partner’s or his baby’s health and wellbeing – and encourage his partner to do the same;
• Empower new dads, especially those who are less confident and/or younger and/or more vulnerable, helping them to recognise their value and importance in their baby’s life; and
• Start to build a picture regarding any potential safeguarding concerns within the new family dynamic.
   

Is the product only for new dads? What about other family demographics?
The DadPad was – at the request of healthcare professionals – developed and written specifically for male new fathers, a group that had long been acknowledged as lacking targeted provision, resources, involvement and engagement during the perinatal period.  Further, research has established that dads need to be explicitly addressed in order to engage and feel included: using the word ‘parent’ in the perinatal context will make most people – and dads in particular – read it to mean ‘mum’.  However, the team at Inspire Cornwall have spent the last few years working with experts to develop and produce their new Co-ParentPad: a hard-copy resource similar to DadPad but which is aimed at LGBTQ+ non-birthing parents.  It’s being launched in February 2023.

Are there any other versions of DadPad available?
As well as the original ‘essential guide’ DadPad and the Co-ParentPad, the Inspire Cornwall team have also developed:

• The Quick Read DadPad, aimed at aiding those dads who – for whatever reason – would find the text-heavy design of the original DadPad challenging; and
• The DadPad Neonatal – developed and co-written with Prof Minesh Khashu, Consultant Neonatologist at Poole Hospital – which is intended to be used in neonatal units to help teams include, engage within and support new dads and their families, helping to ‘steady’ each dad (and mum!) and familiarise him with the situation and surroundings.
   

Further, in addition to the existing DadPad app, which has been available for licencing to organisations since 2018, Inspire Cornwall will be launching a new and improved app platform for DadPad in early 2023 – with other DadPad versions being added in due course.

Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @dadpaduk