Bringing Fathers In is a series of smart, punchy, evidence-based information sheets backed up with a series of online research summaries.

The information sheets, developed by the Fatherhood Institute in collaboration with Men Care and supported by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, are free to download, and designed to print in A3 format for use as posters – or in A4. They, and the supporting research summaries, are intended for an international audience of health, education and social care professionals, policy makers, programme managers and designers, researchers and evaluators.

Here are some examples of the nuggets contained within:

• Pregnant women eat and live more healthily  when their partner supports them, so don’t give health messages only to women – make sure the dads ‘get the message’ too.

• Men who understand the risk of pregnancy complications will support their partner’s use of appropriate services so make sure fathers, uncles, brothers and community leaders understand why professionally supported childbirth is the safest option.

• In Sweden, an increase in fathers’ share of parental leave countrywide over time was paralleled by a downward trend in children’s injury rates (age 0-4 years).

• Five-year-olds with two supportive parents score higher on language development than those with one or no supportive parents.

We hope you find these resources useful. Please circulate them, pin them up, use them for briefings and as a focus for discussion – and share them will colleagues, by passing on the URL: www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/bringingfathersin. If you’re sharing on social media, please use the hashtag #bringinfathersin.

Please stay in touch: register to receive our regular e-shots and tell us what you think of the #bringingfathersin resources by leaving a comment at the end of this article.

Help us bring Fathers Reading Every Day to 6,000 children and their dads this year. Please donate here.

FOUR TOPIC SHEETS FOCUS ON ‘why’ to engage dads

Making the most of fathers to . . . Improve maternal and infant health

Making the most of fathers to… Reduce violence in childrens lives

Making the most of fathers to… Support childrens early learning

Why paternity leave matters for young children

FIVE TOPIC SHEETS FOCUS ON ‘how’ to engage dads effectively

Making the most of fathers- Five best practice tips.pdf

Making the least of fathers- Five common mistakes

Ten top tips for attracting fathers to programmes

Advocating for involved fatherhood- Reflections for advocates

Father-inclusive evaluation- reflections for researchers & program designers

ALL TOPIC SHEETS are backed up by free online RESEARCH SUMMARIES and a RESOURCES LIST

Dads and hormones

Fathers at the birth

Supportive fathers, healthy mothers

Fathers and attachment

Reducing violence in children’s lives

Co-parenting and early child development

Fathers’ impact on learning and literacy

Fathers, sensitivity and parenting style

The impact of fathers’ own characteristics on children

Paternity leave

Additional resources for advocates, practitioners and evaluators

Read more about the background to Bringing Fathers In.