Jack Heinowitz - Fathering Right from the Start: Straight Talk About Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond

Dr. Heinowitz hits the target immediately by exclaiming, Youre both pregnant. When he follows up with tips on facing fears, becoming a wiser lover, and fathering forever, were hooked. Fathering Right from the Start offers a definitive map for fathering success through involvement. Read it whenever you canbefore, during, or after pregnancy.

If fatherhood seems like Mount Everest to you, here is your guide. Jack Heinowitz will get you safely and happily to the top.

Jack Heinowitz speaks to fathers with compassion and understanding. Fathering Right from the Start provides truly helpful information about the deeper issues of fatherhood and gives dads real tools for getting through the tough times.

Fathering Right from the Start presents fathers with a heartwarming concept of their importance in the lives of their infants and children. Dr. Heinowitz not only enlightens us about the role of a father but also provides unique insights and exercises to help guide men in improving their performance both as dads and as partners. This book is a must-read for all new and experienced fathers.

Also by Jack Heinowitz:

The Pregnant Fathers Series

Pregnant Fathers: How Fathers Can Enjoy and Share the

Experiences of Pregnancy and Childbirth

(Prentice Hall Press, 1982)

Pregnant Fathers: Entering Parenthood Together

(Parents As Partners Press, 1995)

Pregnant Fathers: Becoming the Father You Want to Be

(Andrews and McMeel, 1997)

NEW WORLD LIBRARY
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA

Editor: Ellen Kleiner
Interior design: Janice St. Marie
Cover design: Mary Ann Casler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations embodied in literary articles or reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heinowitz. Jack.

Fathering right from the start: straight talk about pregnancy, birth, and beyond / Jack Heinowitz. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

Preassigned LCCN: 99-70364

ISBN 1-57731-187-6

1. Pregnancy. 2. Father and child. 3. Pregnancy Psychological aspects. 4. Childbirth. 5. Parenting. 6. Fathers. I. Title.

RG525.H42 1999 618.24

QBI99-900439

First printing, April 2001
ISBN 1-57731-187-6
Printed in Canada on acid-free, recycled paper
Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To the best support and birthing team a middle-aged father could ever hope forEllen Kleiner, one and only; Bob Goodman; Janice St. Marie; Christinea Johnson; Miguel Pisarro; Marilyn Nolt; Bonnie and Ofer Shimrat; Randa Handler; Peggy Keller; Stephanie Teal, M.D.; Ursi Weissand to my dear friends and family who took this ride along with me. Thank you all for your love, patience, and inspiration. (Next time lets get a larger birthing suite.)

T wo decades ago, noted developmental psychologist Michael Lamb accurately described fathers as the forgotten contributors to child development. Indeed, for much of the twentieth century, Americans generally assumed that when it came to infants, fathers were largely redundant. The popular view was that the only adult with whom babies and infants have a significant relationship is their mother. The influence of the father was assumed to occur, if at all, only after a child had reached the age of four or five years. Some even began to view fathers as superfluous to the well-being of children.

As a consequence of such thinking, fathers in the United States grew increasingly disconnected from families and children. By the early 1990s, nearly four out of ten children were living apart from their fathers. Moreover, 40 percent of children living apart from their fathers had not seen their fathers in over a year. Fifty percent of those who did not live with their fathers had never stepped foot in their fathers homes. Fathers, it seemed, were rapidly disappearing from childrens lives.

Then something extraordinary happened. Fatherhood began to experience a reawakening. In response to burgeoning research on the importance of father involvement in child development, fathers and fatherhood increasingly became topics of interest to the general public as well as scholars. Far from being seen as superfluous, fathers came to be recognized as unique and irreplaceable contributors to the well-being of children.

At the National Fatherhood Initiative, we like to think we had a little something to do with this renewed interest in fathers and fatherhood. But so did pioneers like Jack Heinowitz. Indeed, at the time of the founding of the National Fatherhood Initiative in 1994, one of the few books in print for fathers was Jack Heinowitzs