Science of Dad

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Whilst most men become fathers, and men make up roughly half the parental population, the vast majority of scientific research has focused on the mother. But studies have started to reveal the impact of fatherhood on both dads themselves and on their children. We're seeing how fathers play a crucial role in children's behaviour, happiness, and even cognitive skills. Oscar Duke, a doctor, new dad and author of How To Be A Dad, discovers how pregnancy, birth and childcare affect the father, bringing about profound physiological and hormonal changes. Only 5% of mammal fathers invest in their offspring, and human males have evolved to undergo key changes when their children are born. Involved fathers can expect their levels of the 'love hormone' oxytocin to rise, nature's way of helping parents bond with their children. At birth, a dad's testosterone levels dramatically fall, increasing affection and responsiveness, and discouraging polygamy. With more fathers taking on a hands-on role in bringing up their children, how can these new discoveries about the science of dad help support them, and inform social and healthcare policies? Presented by Dr Oscar Duke and produced by Melanie Brown and Cathy Edwards

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and trust me you'll get there in a moment but if you're a comedy fan
0:05.2	I'd really like to tell you a bit about what we do. I'm Julie Mackenzie and I commission comedy
0:10.1	podcast at the BBC. It's a bit of a dream job really. Comedy is a bit of a dream job really.
0:13.0	Comedy is a fantastic joyous thing to do because really you're making people laugh,
0:18.0	making people's days a bit better, helping them process, all manner of things.
0:22.0	But you know, I also know that comedy is really
0:24.3	subjective and everyone has different tastes. So we've got a huge range of comedy on offer from
0:29.8	satire to silly, shocking to soothing, profound to just general pratting about.
0:35.0	So if you fancy a laugh, find your next comedy at BBC Sounds.
0:40.0	I'm Dr Oscar Duke and in Discovery from the BBC I'm exploring the way men's bodies and minds change as they become first-time fathers
0:49.0	I was say hello Dada Hello Dada Say hello Dadda.
0:53.0	Dada.
0:54.0	Dada.
0:55.0	You want to have a bath?
0:57.0	Yes.
0:58.0	Yes. Should we get ready for bath time?
1:00.0	What are we going to do now?
1:02.0	Bubbles. Bubbles. Should we run the bath?
1:05.0	When I discovered I was soon to become a dad, I remembered an article I'd seen in a medical journal suggesting that new fathers as well as new mothers
1:14.4	went through significant hormonal changes as they became a parent for the first time.
1:20.2	Drawn in by the eye-wincing headlines promising shrinking testicles for new dads,
1:25.0	I was determined to discover what science lay behind the radical claims
	...

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