Give dads a chance

摘要

THE birth of Anna Machin's first child didn't go to plan. "Unfortunately, I suffered a haemorrhage, and it was a bit touch and go for a time," she recalls. Her newborn daughter was shuttled off for specialist care, while Machin herself, who had passed out, received emergency attention. "I didn't really see anything, whereas my poor husband, who was in the room, saw everything - blood flowing everywhere, about 30 members of staff rushing around, alarms going off... it was very, very dramatic." Afterwards, Machin was offered support and counselling. But no such offer was extended to her shaken husband. "And, actually, he was the one who needed it," she says. This was evident when, even a year later, he was unable to talk about the birth, or even think about it, without crying.