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Men are MUCH more involved in looking after their children then they were 30 years ago. But not enough, according to children, who still say that they would like their fathers to be more available to them – more time and more in tune with their world.

The best thing ever written on fathers at the birth was written in 1959 in a book Childbirth without Fear by Grantly Dick-Read, one of the most influential thinkers in this field last century. This debate today in 2009 represents our failure to get this issue right for 50 years.

Australia has a simple system: when parents separate, you get two lone parents, not one. Both parents get help through the tough change from parenting together to parenting apart. In the UK, the system's a shambles - the state only 'sees' one parent after separation. Shouldn’t we be learning from the rest of the world?

Dad Info was lucky enough to be invited to Sweden by Baby Bjorn, who love dads, and design their products to appeal to men and women. Together with Dadlabs and FQ magazine, we looked at the swedish paternity leave system, and met some of the dads (and their children), who took it. Here are the insights we gained into what makes their paternity leave system work for dads, mums, children and society.

"It’s time to call a truce. The sex war has gone on long enough." Richard Reeves calls time on the slack dad myth and argues that in the battle for work life balance among parents, we should negotiate a end to complaining about whether our partners are pulling their weight or not.

Women are currently being let down by some maternity units, according to the Government’s health watchdog, the Healthcare Commission, which found 21% of maternity units falling into the least well performing category.

You may think you're going to be ham-fisted with a baby, but research shows that dads can be as sensitive and skilled with babies as mums. Lots of women think they are too. So you're safe to be confident and hands-on.