Listen to this if you are planning to be a father. Fatherhood is a unique experience that has no equal. Lewis Yablonsky, author of Fathers and Sons, says that it is the most important role a man can play in his lifetime. I am so happy that you want to be a father and are planning to have a baby. What I am about to share with you will affect the pregnancy and the future outcomes of your baby.
It is common knowledge that the mother’s health, especially during pregnancy, affects the baby in the womb. But what is not widely known is that a father’s health, starting from preconception, does affect the outcome of the pregnancy for both the child and mother also.
In the study of nearly 786,000 births, researchers found that dads with conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, cancer or depression had 19% higher odds of having a preterm infant, 23% higher odds of having a low birth weight infant and 28% higher odds of having an infant who needed a stay in the ICU.
Experts believe that the cause of this is found in the genes. Since health can impact the expressions of genes and a father contributes half the genome to his child, the child will be affected by the genes of the father. When a child inherits the genes of a healthy father, he is likely to be healthy as well.
The lifestyle of the father matters also. Lifestyle habits like smoking and drinking alcohol can affect the quality of the sperm and in turn impact the baby. In contrast, healthy lifestyles are beneficial to men’s own health, their offspring’s health, and their experiences as fathers.
So, be in the best shape you can be if you are planning to have a baby.
By Parcsen Loke, Family Life Coach, Centre for Fathering. If you wish to contact Parcsen, please make an appointment at: calendly.com/iamparcsen.
Food For Thought: Do you agree that one way that a father cares for his child is by staying healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle?
Source: Association of preconception paternal health on perinatal outcomes: analysis of U.S. claims data; Kasman, Alex M. et al. Fertility and Sterility, Volume 113, Issue 5, 947 – 954