The best preparation is to make sure you have plenty of time away from work. In Australia with 'double-dipping' maternity leave, my wife had a year off and I t

The best preparation is to make sure you have plenty of time away from work. In Australia with 'double-dipping' maternity leave, my wife had a year off and I took 6 weeks with paternity and other leave. Incredibly glad we did it. Learnt everything we needed to learn then. By the time the 2nd one came around, we realise how much we had overthought the first one though. Baby rearing isn't complicated with a healthy child - it's just very very tiring.