P.S. DADS ROCK
Supporting you when you first become a Dad
Scotland’s first and only national service to support Dads in the Perinatal stage who feel their mental health could be better
Perinatal is from when you first learn you are going to be a Dad and up to your baby’s first birthday.
New Dads/Dads to be
Are you experiencing low moods, anxiety or depression, having difficulty bonding with your baby, struggling with relationships or feeling isolated? You’re not alone. Research shows that 14% of new Dads experience poor mental health during the perinatal period.
We match new Dads with highly-trained peer support volunteers, who are more experienced Dads/Mums, to give emotional support.
Email us below. We also take referrals from GP’s, Midwives, Health Visitors and other organisations.
The service is open to Dads/Dads to be from all over Scotland.
We aim to reply to all messages within 48 hours so please check your spam folder if you haven’t heard from us or phone 07807498709
You can download a poster about the service here: PS Poster
If you are based in Edinburgh or the Three Towns area of North Ayrshire we also have Dad and Baby groups where you can pop in and join us for chilled out time with your baby, grab a cuppa and meet other dads with support from one of our Family Workers. More info here: Baby
Volunteers
We need you to join our team of peer support volunteers. If you’re a great listener and have a few spare hours each week, we’d love to hear from you. You don’t need to have experienced poor mental health to be able to help. Find out more about being a Perinatal peer support volunteer.
Why mental health support?
There are approximately 60,000 new births across Scotland and research shows that 14% of new Dads experience poor mental health during the perinatal period. This means each year there are approximately 8400 Dads in Scotland without adequate support to help improve their mental health. Research and our experience show us that when Dads are confident and resilient, the long term outcomes for their children are better.
We surveyed the dads and families who use our services and over 85% were concerned about their mental health at the moment. They were looking for additional support for Dads, especially in the early months of having a baby. One respondent said: I became a new dad 3 months ago, and although it’s hard to know how much is about becoming a dad and how much due to the pandemic, it’s felt quite isolating. New dads don’t get the focus that new mums do. Another commented: Being a new parent was brilliant, but often bewildering. It's an intense time of life, the instinct can be to retreat into yourself. The more support, reassurance, information, community the better.
