According to an article I read this weekend, their partner’s first pregnancy is a major cause of “freakin-out” among men. Read on…

FIRST-time expectant fathers are almost four times more stressed than other men.

While many new mums struggle emotionally after their baby is born, dads-to-be are more likely to feel anxious during their partner’s pregnancy.

The prospect of fatherhood and the changes it may bring causes much more concern to blokes than the real thing, according to a new Australian study.

It says men worry about having to become more responsible financially and being unprepared for the practicalities of caring for an infant.

They grieve for their carefree, independent lifestyle and may resent having to share their partner’s affection with a third person.

And those who adopt the traditional role of protector often feel lost during pregnancy when their partners are under the care of midwives and obstetricians in a world where fathers have little influence or control. But most of these worries evaporate after the birth.

In the largest study of its kind, doctors from New South Wales and South Australia surveyed more than 300 men whose partners were almost halfway through their first pregnancy.

The study, recently published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, found 18.6 per cent of dads showed high levels of psychological distress.

Lead author Prof Philip Boyce, from Sydney’s Westmead Hospital, said this figure was much higher than expected.

This level of distress, enough to require counselling but not so severe as to be considered a psychiatric illness, was experienced by about 5 per cent of the general population, he said.

“The issues faced by men during the transition to parenthood have taken second place to the extensive work on women’s distress, especially postnatal depression,” Prof Boyce said.

“While we found no increased risk of post-natal depression among men, we found men experienced significant distress when their partners were pregnant.

“So you could argue that for men, the stress is in discovering their partner is pregnant, not actually having the child.”

What stressed you guys out first time round? Or were you cool calm and collected? Although it was immensely exciting and positive for me, I must admit to a bit of stress. Part of my experience is recorded here.