Photo Credit: P. Dazeley/Photographer's Choice/Getty Images
When I was pregnant with our first daughter, a close friend convinced me to hire a doula to help with the birth. My husband responded to the news with the phrase he'd learned to default to during that endless ten month stretch of hormonal hell: "Whatever you say, dear."
He had no idea what a doula was, but 500 bucks seemed a small price to pay to avoid ruffling my hugely pregnant feathers. Over the subsequent years his number-one advice to our expecting-dad friends has become, "Dude, hire a doula. It takes all of the pressure off of you."
Now some guy has upped the ante, posting on UrbanBaby about his "dudela" services, which include mobile device management, social network coordination, concierge services and even fantasy sports assistance ("The world of sports will not stop for the birth of your baby," the dudela writes).
For dads daunted by delivery room duties, it sounds like a dream come true. In the dudela’s own words: "We will meet before the due date to craft an announcement statement, which I will send via text message to contacts of your choosing within the first hour of your baby's life. During labor and up to two hours after delivery, I will respond to all incoming texts and phone calls, taking messages when required. Check you in at the hospital on FourSquare? Check. Update your Facebook status with baby's first picture? I like. Tweet the birth announcement? #Yes. You're going to want to get some celebratory cigars. Good thing I've been a subscriber to Cigar Aficionado for the last 10 years..."
The post turned out to be a joke (The Daily Mail investigated), which is too bad because I think the dudela is on to something. My favorite bit, however, came from a commenter who asked: "But will you whine and complain about how the baby won't sleep and nag the new Mom about when she's going to be ready to have sex again, or does Dad have to take care of that on his own?"
