Real Stories from Real Dads

“After the birth of our first baby, my husband had moments of feeling insecure, excluded, useless, tired and had so many questions in his head as to what was normal to expect from me and what was expected of him. He found your website randomly after asking Google a question and he was so glad he did. After reading many of the Dad Stories and articles he felt prepared, he had tools to use and he knew what he could expect. As a new mother, when hubby told me things were normal, or identified things that I didn’t even realise were happening, it made me feel safe and loved knowing that he had looked into things. This was the same when our second baby came along. We truly think this website is amazing and so helpful,” – Anonymous.

“I’ve discovered through my own journey that there are so many dads struggling with mental health issues but who are not comfortable talking about it. DadBooster provides an accessible and private forum to arm these men with skills and knowledge to improve.” – DadBooster participant

“I found the DadBooster program extremely beneficial to both my personal and family’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Being a new dad for the first time and having to manage all the new aspects of your life including financial stress, little personal time and a work life balance, I felt like I was just existing on a day-to-day basis. I was flat and felt like every day was the same mundane routine. This affected my stress levels and I found I was agitated easily and would wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep.

Please do not think this detracted from the love I have for my daughter and partner, as having a child was clearly the most joyous event in my life. I just thought my life of travel, independence (both financially and personally) was gone. I had a lot of friends and social gatherings as a non-parent and I really felt my social circle had completed diminished.

Dad Booster gave me the tools to slow down my thoughts, enjoy the moment and also set realistic goals and expectations. It made me realise that being a father you just need to slow down, live in the moment and enjoy the wonder of your baby. You also have to ensure you spend some small amounts of time on yourself and also dedicate small, but precious amounts of time on your relationship with your partner.

The greatest benefit was the program itself; it gave me the psychological support and care I needed. This made me feel that someone out there gets it, is supporting me and understands the highs and lows I’m currently experiencing. The tools in the toolkit, the daily goals and especially the downward spiral were all essential tools to assist my wellbeing.

I’m so glad I was part of this program, and I would also like to offer my future support in anyway it may be needed. Personally, I think this -program needs government funding to ensure it is made available to as many new Dads as possible.” – Anonymous.