160,000 New Dads and Counting

DATELINE: IRVINE, CA… Boot Camp for New Dads, a fatherhood initiative launched 17 years ago at Irvine Medical Center in California, touts their milestone of preparing 160,000 men to be fathers.

Boot Camp for New Dads, a non-profit orientation program for fathers-to-be operating in more than 260 hospitals, clinics, schools and churches throughout the U.S., has become a nationally acclaimed program and one that has gained international interest.

“We’re proud to have been able to work with more than 160,000 new fathers from all walks of life in our Boot Camp for New Dads workshops. What we have found over the years is that these men are very eager to step up to the plate and get a great start as a father,” explained Greg Bishop, founder of Boot Camp for New Dads.

With concerns about fatherhood rising in many other countries, international interest in Boot Camp for New Dads is growing very quickly. Most recently, the Boot Camp for New Dads program was adopted in Liverpool England for teenage fathers under the name “Hit the Ground Crawling”.

Boot Camp for New Dads is celebrated as the “Best Practice” for preparing men to be fathers and was recently named a U.S. Navy Model Program, operating at naval stations in the U.S. as well as at naval stations in Atsugi and Yokosuka, Japan and Sicily, Italy.

Fatherhood initiative requests have been received from members of the International Lamaze and Childbirth Education associations in South Africa and Mexico. A major article on Boot Camp for New Dads appeared in Macleans, Canada’s largest magazine, which in turn generated requests from Canada for a fatherhood program. Other requests for fatherhood program assistance have come from Australia and Singapore and Boot Camp for New Dads has enjoyed significant news coverage in Japan, Germany, South Korea and Brazil and France.

Boot Camp for New Dads has long enjoyed recognition as the premier program for new fathers across the U.S. Recent additions to these accolades include the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ report titled “The Importance of Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children” which included a description of Boot Camp for New Dads and several of their programs as well as their “Caring for New Moms” and “Troubleshooter’s Guide to Crying Babies”.

“Fatherhood has changed rapidly over the past generation, and will continue to do so over the next several. Clearly a renaissance among fathers is occurring not just in America but other countries too. Given the many millions of children today without an involved father, and the close connection between deficient fathering and a host of societal issues such as youth violence and teen pregnancy, we obviously have a long way to go, but Boot Camp for New Dads is well along in the part,” explained Bishop.

Boot Camp for New Dads
Celebrating their 17th year, Boot Camp for New Dads’ mission is to help new dads face both the challenges and opportunities of fatherhood through workshops which provide them with “hands on” education in the care of their babies. Men attend the class when they are expecting their first baby, and are joined in the workshop by “veterans” who had previously attended and have returned with their two to four-month-old baby in tow. They are able to give the dads-to-be a realistic idea of what to do and what to expect when their first baby comes.

With more than 4.1 million births last year alone (National Center for Health Statistics), and approximately 1.5 million men becoming new dads every year, it’s more important than ever for fathers to realize that being a “good provider” is only part of the very central role they have in their children’s lives.

Bishop continued, “These guys are inspiring and should make all men proud, because once they understand how much they are needed, they deliver the goods.”

For more information about Boot Camp for New Dads, visit Bootcampfornewdads.org. To arrange an interview with Greg Bishop, please contact sdubin@prworkzone.com, (781) 582-1061.