Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

RUGBY STAR BEN COHEN RECREATES FAMOUS L’ENFANT IMAGE

Spencer Rowell’s L’Enfant, the famous image which encapsulated the softer side of men for a whole generation of women, has been recreated by rugby legend Ben Cohen MBE with his baby daughter Isabelle, to raise awareness of the problems faced by new dads such as dealing with excessively crying babies and colic.

World Cup winner, and first time dad Ben Cohen, 29, has become involved with the Problem Shared campaign, which is sponsored by Colief Infant Drops and Cry-sis, due to his own recent personal experience of dealing with colic with his 5 month old twin daughters Harriette and Isabelle.

A Problem Shared aims to awareness of the issues new dads face and encourage parents to share their problems to allow them to enjoy the experience of having children. Cohen commented, “I can’t believe how much I love fatherhood, I genuinely really enjoy it, but nothing quite prepares you for it. One of the hardest things when it comes to looking after a crying baby is getting to know what cry is for what, which takes time and patience. I found there really wasn’t enough support and information for dads, particularly when it comes to having twins!”

The 2008 ‘A Problem Shared’ campaign will be focusing on the role of fathers and the relationship of parents, after research by Colief discovered that 1 in 5 couples have admitted their sex life was “non-existent” in the 1st year of a baby’s life, while five per cent of couples have actually split up due to their baby’s constant crying.

“Many parenting campaigns place a key focus on mums, leaving dads lingering in the background and often not feeling as important, which can lead to the breakdown of communication and ultimately relationships.” commented Mary Buckley, founder of Colief Infant Drops “We felt it was important to help bring dads into the spotlight, and raise awareness of the role they play in baby care and how their involvement can help ease the pressure on mums and on their relationships.”

Cohen commented on his experience of colic and crying babies. “The twins started to get colic symptoms at about 2-3 weeks. Harriette had it worse and would pull her knees up and cry for ages. When your baby is crying you just want an instant result to make it better. Abby was breastfeeding so we tried Colief Infant Drops which you add to the breast milk, and they seemed to ease their colic completely. The twins are 5 months old now and seem to have got over their colic but without a remedy it could have been really hard to cope – thankfully we had a really supportive family around us.” Cohen commented.

Janet Bullen from Cry-sis commented “The Problem Shared initiative aims to address common problems which affect new parents, such as colic, excessively crying babies or relationship changes and help them to seek solutions.”


Notes to Editors:

www.problemshared.info - is the campaign website where parents can find more information about A Problem Shared and the common problems which can affect both mothers and fathers.

Colief Infant Drops

When babies show symptoms of colic, ruling out milk sensitivity is one of the 1st recommended steps. Colief Infant Drops contain the naturally-occurring enzyme lactase, which when added to the babies ‘usual milk’ (whether breast fed or formula) breaks down most of the lactose and makes the feed more easily digestible. Priced at £9.99, Colief is available from Boots, Alliance, Lloyds and most major Supermarket pharmacies as well as many independent chemists and health food stores. For help and advice, call the Colief Infant Drops Helpline on (0800) 0281187 or visit www.colief.com.

Cry-sis

Cry-sis are a charity that provide support to parents with excessively crying babies.
For more info about Cry-sis, please visit www.cry-sis.org.uk

Ben Cohen MBE

Ben Cohen is a rugby legend who has achieved 57 caps for England and currently stands second in line behind Rory Underwood as top try scorer for his country. He comes from a family of sporting heroes, with his Uncle George Cohen being part of the England Football World Cup winning team of '66.

Following his 11 year career with Northampton Saints, Ben’s new challenge for 2008 is furthering his career with CA Brive in France where he is learning a new style of rugby and a new language. In September 2007 Ben and wife Abby became the proud parents of twins Isabelle and Hariette, and in his spare time, Ben enjoys his boy's toys, his latest project being to learn to fly a helicopter.

Issued by:Pegasus Public Relations
On behalf of:Cry-sis & Britannia Health Products Ltd

Press enquiries:

Laura Cook
Tel: (01903) 821550
Email: lcook@pegasuspr.co.uk

*Colief Parenting Survey of 3,500 parents