Through the lens of new dads: Birth, Baby and Beyond’s new season

The Chaser’s Chris Taylor has teamed up with midwife Cath Curtain for a new season of LiSTNR’s Birth, Baby and Beyond, focusing specifically on new dads who feel forgotten in a world of parenting content tailored for new mums.

Taylor said the lack of information for men can leave new dads feeling isolated.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say there are days where I don’t feel terrified, scared and clueless. A lot of other dads I speak to feel the same because so much of the parenting literature – even state government resources – is still geared to mums. Modern dads want to be involved. So I’ve got a lot of questions, Cath, and I’m hoping you can hold my hand and answer them,” Taylor said.

Co-host Cath has delivered thousands of babies over her 47-year career, bringing plenty of experience to help Chris guide the podcast through the lens of a dad, for all new dads and dads-to-be.

In episode one, dropping today, Chris tells how it took five years for him and his wife to fall pregnant and why he feels it’s important to share the struggle that many don’t.

“I think a lot of dads probably approach conception thinking, this is the fun bit where I get to have a lot of sex. Lots and lots of sex, and in nine months, we’ll have a baby. While I’m sure that’s true for some, I think a lot of other dads like me might discover that the reality can be quite different,” Taylor said.

“We went five years without conceiving. It was quite a quite a journey… traumatic and harrowing and depressing, anxious, frightening, an existential crisis.”

Taylor and Cath also discuss why couples traditionally wait for 12 weeks to share the pregnancy news. 

“It’s if you lose the baby, then you don’t have to tell anyone, which is so bad because when you lose a baby, what you want is family around,” she said.

Where previously the podcast has had the birth mother at its centre, in this season, LiSTNR focuses the lens on dads; exploring the facts, fiction, questions, concerns and hopes of the dads who navigate their own unique, challenging and rewarding journey through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

Listen to the first episodes here on LiSNTR, or wherever you get your podcasts.