The morning after our first child was born over 16 years ago, I remember my first experience of fierce fatherly love. A powerful experience of needing to protect and provide for my baby and family.

The poor doctor who was also wanting to care for my child was unaware of my newly found protective instincts. She walked into the hospital room and collected our baby for some tests. 

Fathers Day approaches - So what is special about fathers? Well, I am a father - I'm biased - but one thing I've learnt about fathers is that there are all sorts - they can be very different!  

Apart from their biological contribution at the beginning, what else defines fatherhood - the specialness of fatherhood? I reckon there are as many answers as there are different expressions of fatherhood.

For me, it is the choice made by a father to give of himself for his child and family  - not just time and money or doing things - but of his self, in each moment.

I am not a mother, and so as an observer I want to highlight one particularly remarkable aspect of mothers that I am in awe of.

The physical and biological act of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

This is a gift of motherhood, and a gift that mothers offer to their children. These gifts are rarely without significant suffering and sacrifice.

Any parent will tell you, the parent role has a lot more challenge than they could have ever expected. Many look back and say it was a moment of sheer madness - when they threw care and contraceptives to the wind and took the plunge into parenting. In contrast I also meet many people (in fact its often the same people as from the previous group) who says that it is the most besotting, deliciously addictive, best-ever decision they have made – and they wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Im not a big Royal follower but when a new baby arrives I think we all naturally pay a bit of attention. 

Didn't Kate look so normal - happy but tired - displaying her post-baby bump which makes us all feel a whole lot more normal.  
They both made sweet comments about the baby showing their obvious attachment and curiosity with the new member of their family. William spoke of wanting to get to know his son and has taken a couple of weeks off duty. Kate is also drawing close to her parents for that extra support - I think there are a few telltale signs that things are looking good for the little Prince. 

Our first one-day masterclass for expecting couples is booked for

Kailis Bros, Leederville
8th September 2013

Register now to secure your place and a limited offer earlybird price.

We were wondering how the royal couple is preparing for the birth of their first baby – a quick Google search bought up a stack of news articles – some that raised interesting issues for us as we think about how to support parents.