Ways to Include Your Partner in Your Pregnancy

Your partner may not be super involved and you don’t know where to start or what to ask them to be involved in. You may have a partner who wants to be more involved and may be sad how he’s not able to be. No matter how involved your partner currently is there are ways they are able to get involved in your pregnancy even when it feels like there’s not much they can do.

Trying to be intentional with including your partner in your pregnancy can help them prepare to enter into this new phase of life during the pregnancy and not once the baby is here. 

They may not be able to ever feel their baby grow and move inside of them as the moms do, but they definitely can experience the beauty of pregnancy and have and have an amazing experience with you both bonding with your baby during these 9 months. 

Here are 7 ways you can include your partner in your pregnancy. 

Appointments

If their schedule allows try to make appointment times that they will be able to come to as well. There are going to be many appointments that are quick and seems like it’s pointless to have both of you work it into your schedules.

No matter what the appointment is appointments are a great way for the dad to feel a part of the pregnancy and really help him process there’s a baby coming. Women get to feel the baby in them and throughout the pregnancy. You then get to process the fact that there is a baby coming much easier.

Letting the dad listen in on the appointments so they get the same info you do, get to learn, and hear the heartbeat is a great way to include them in your pregnancy. They will get to learn about the baby and your needs so that they get to understand and know how to best take care of you.

My husband really enjoys being at these appointments to get to listen to the baby’s heartbeat as well as he gets to ask questions he has about the appointment, my pregnancy, or baby.

Share about things you learned about having a baby

Currently, most of the content I am consuming is related to this new phase of life. My husband does not consume this type of content on his own. So to help him feel equally as prepared I like to include him in the info and videos I found helpful. 

If you watch or learn anything about pregnancy, labor, postpartum, or once the baby is here, talk to him about it. You can also go back and watch together the videos that you feel would be helpful.

In the evening if I have any videos that I want to show my husband I go ahead and show him then. I feel like this is a great time for us to talk and watch things together. This makes both of us feel closer together when we are doing things together to prepare for the new life change. I also have liked us being equally as educated on things. This helps us be on the same page on things.

Holding random conversations about random topics

I like to ask random questions that I’m curious about my husband’s perspective or simply want to talk about. We all have different views or thoughts on things. That is why it’s great to not assume that your partner thinks about things the same way you do. 

Asking about random questions relating to parenthood or anything you would like will help you guys not only get closer by discussing topics but also will help you guys talk about things before you face them in life. It will help you become prepared for things that might sneak up on you even when you think you have time before this will be a problem you will be faced with.

Sometimes you may not see eye to eye on things. It’s helpful to face this now and not when you need to have an answer. This can help keep the conversion stay calmer as it’s not in the moment and and do not feel the heat of the moment.

You may want to research some of the topics together to help you guys find a good compromise.

Think of asking questions like how you want to be disciplining your children. Any parenthood challenge or choice you will have to have an answer to eventually. Knowing that you both will handle the situations the same is so helpful. Having different ways of parenting or not being viewed as being on the same page on things can be harmful to raising your children well. 

There are going to be plenty of things you will have to make decisions in the moment, but preparing for the things that are most likely going to come up will help you get a leg up and help you guys be able to work on disagreements on how to raise your children. 

Include them in buying clothes

If you are going to be shopping for clothes, see if they would like to be included in that. Everyone’s different in how involved they’d like to be with this, but at least showing them the clothes can help them visualize that their baby is going to be those sizes and wearing those clothes. 

My husband at first didn’t care much to be included in this. Once I showed him my online order I planned on making he asked to go through and look at what he wanted to get. Now he gets excited to look through clothes that he wants to get for our baby when I say I am going to be shopping. He also loves to look through them once they arrive and see how big or small all the sizes are.

Telling them anything you’re experiencing during pregnancy

You and your body go through so many changes and feelings throughout pregnancy. Let your partner know what and when you are experiencing symptoms. They will be able to have sympathy, figure out how to take care of you properly in that moment, and have a bigger appreciation for you caring for their baby.

If you feel or see any body changes, show them. It’s so special to see the change for both you and your partner. So be intentional about showing them when you do notice these things like seeing where their baby is when you lay down, feeling where the baby is in your stomach, showing your growing bump to them, etc.

When you feel your baby kick tell them, if they’d be able to feel it let them know they can try to feel your baby kick. If you can see the baby kick show them. These things are exciting and are a special moment for both parents to experience these things together. Getting to see or feel life inside of you is such a special thing.

Having them talk to baby, play songs, read, etc

Around the time baby can hear start including them in engaging with the baby. It’s important for the baby to recognize both of your voices. So this is a great way to ensure your baby knows you both.

This is also a special time to be able to bond with your baby. Talking to them and reading books is a great way to feel connected to your baby and for your baby to learn your different voices. Picking out a song that you want to play often for your baby is a sweet thing you can do. They may even recognize it and it is possible it calms them down when they hear it after they are born.

Prep them for their role in pregnancy, labor, postpartum, and once baby is here.

What better way to include your partner in your pregnancy than to give them a role? Let them know how they can bless you and take care of you during each phase of this experience. 

Let them know what you are wanting to have change during each phase. You may want the roles in the home to change. So communicate that and see how you guys can still get everything that needs done during these changes.

Talk about and prep them for the roles they are going to take on once the baby is here. Life is going to be different and become your new normal so having everyone get prepared for a new normal is a great way to help the transition go a little smoother when the time comes. 

Try to be intentional during this time to include your partner as much as possible.

These are only a few ways to include your partner in your pregnancy. Try including them in these ideas and take some time to think about any other ways you are able to include them in this journey. It’s such a special time and each partner should get to experience it to the fullest.