Two new dads have used lockdown to create a brand new podcast especially for fathers in time for Father's Day.

Margate comedian Lloyd Hollett and marketing director Jonathan Griffiths had been wanting to create the podcast - Poddy Training - but couldn't get the time to record it together - until lockdown.

The pair, with Lloyd normally spending most of the year travelling working in theatres, hotels and cruise ships and Jonathan, currently working on the Tokyo Olympic Games, could never make their schedules work, until they had to stay at home during lockdown - and the podcast was born.

Jonathan said: “When lockdown started we realised we actually didn’t need to be in the same room. The technology exists that meant we could use this time to record the first season, so we invested in mics, researched podcast recording platforms and got to work. That’s how the Poddy Training podcast was born.”

The duo recorded all six episodes of the first season, which cover everything from trying for a baby to getting home with your new-born child, plus a ‘coronavirus special’ about coping in lockdown with toddlers.

“We’re really proud of the series,” added Lloyd.

Two years ago, both were preparing for different roles – becoming new dads. Lloyd and wife Danielle, were expecting their first child, and Jonathan and his wife Lauren's baby was due a few months later.

When their children Ottilie and Logan were born, both men had very different experiences of the births to the ones they’d imagined and planned for.

Lloyd and Danielle were sent home from the hospital twice before Danielle went into labour on their bathroom floor after insisting Lloyd get some sleep upstairs, leaving Lloyd with guilt for having not been there. The couple made it into the delivery suite in the nick of time, with Ottilie born just eight minutes after the car park ticket was issued.

Jonathan and his wife’s plans for a tranquil water birth were scuppered, after Lauren needed to be induced early. Things progressed well but when Logan was delivered he wasn’t breathing properly and had to be rushed to the neo natal unit.

Jonathan said: “I was standing in the middle of the room with my wife on one side out of it after a difficult delivery and my new son on the other with an oxygen mask on his face and the nurse pulling the emergency cord. It wasn’t the start I’d imagined that’s for sure.”

Logan was discharged from neo-natal 24 hours later and the couple got to leave the hospital after another day of observations, but the experience left Jon with some mental health issues that manifested themselves about a year later.

It was only after talking to Lloyd and sharing their stories that the pair decided more honest information should be available to expectant and new dads, or for those thinking about becoming a dad and so they hot on the idea of the podcast.

Lloyd said: "We hope our ‘warts and all’ approach will encourage other men going through similar situations to get in touch and start a conversation.

“The coronavirus has had such a devastating impact on many people, not just in the UK but around the world. However, without this time we’d never have had the chance to start Poddy Training, and if it can help even a handful of men then that’s our silver lining from this whole situation.”

Poddy Training, and all six episodes, including a Coronavirus bonus episode, launch on Father's Day tomorrow.

A second season is also in the offing, to include guest dads talking about topics including adoption, struggling to conceive and big families. Learn more at: poddytrainingpodcast.com, on Twitter and Facebook.

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