A West Footscray dad is facing the razor this Father’s Day to help other dads with premature babies.
Radford White is leading a team of five dads into Sunday’s shave in support of the Royal Women’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Dads’ Group. The NICU Beard Club is almost halfway to its goal of raising $40,000.
Mr White will also use the shave to launch an ebook and podcast series of interviews he undertook with former NICU dads.
He said the premature birth by 10 weeks of his twins Maisie and Rupert, now four, opened his eyes to the difficulties dads face during the babies’ time in intensive care and beyond.
“There is a real sense of overwhelm. It’s a real challenge for the dads, torn between their newborns, their partners and their jobs, all their existing responsibilities.”
Mr White has spent the past 12 months interviewing nine other NICU dads, holding informal chats in the hope other new dads can learn from their NICU experience.
“They have been super appreciative to have a conversation about it, guys don’t get speaking about their emotions much,” he said.
“My kids were there for 10 weeks and 14 weeks, so having the conversation with someone who has been through it is really helpful.”
Mr White’s new ebook will include transcripts of all the interviews, a “jargon-busters” section to help dads navigate unfamiliar medical terminology, and a “how to survive your first 72 hours in NICU” guide.
“A lot of guys I spoke to didn’t have any insight or preparation for how a NICU birth might be until it happened,” he said.
Further details and donations: give.everydayhero.com/au/NICUBeardClub
