Men need to reach out and talk about their mental health concerns around fatherhood, a wellness consultant has said.

Speaking to mark Men's Mental Health Week, Fin McKenna Fox said he was concerned about pushing more worries on to his partner if he talked about his well-being.

Mr Fox returned home from Australia earlier this year after his wife Shona gave birth to a baby girl.

He told Lunchtime Live it's important for men to talk.

"I feel it's such an important topic to speak about because there's so many men who are struggling in silence," he said.

"I too was one of those men who struggled in silence for a lot longer than they needed to.

"For myself, if I'm able to share my story and give someone the encouragement to seek help and support then it's worth a bit of uncomfortableness for myself".

'A very isolating time'

Mr Fox said parenting was something completely new for them.

"We were the first of our friends who had kids so it was a very lonely and isolating time for us," he said.

"The pressure that we put on ourselves in that time it just got to a point where I was doing everything for my wife, doing everything for my kids - trying to look after them and look after my business.

"I was spinning so many plates at that time and I didn't have the tools for myself to actually look after my own mental health".

Mr Fox said he was putting on "a brave face" for about six months until he couldn't anymore.

"I needed to step away and I needed to admit what was going on for myself," he said.

"I'd so much conditioning as a man [that] 'It's just a period, we just have to push through this, I just have to toughen up'.

"I was struggling with my mental health, I was struggling with a lot of anxiety... but I wasn't talking to anybody about because I just felt it was me".

Fin McKenna Fox and his family. Image: Supplied

Mr Fox said stress and pressure is a normal part of parenting.

"It comes with the role but it just keeps coming and keeps coming," he said.

"It just takes one uncomfortable event to happen that just can be too much.

"For myself I had to wait until that breaking point to seek help; whereas if I can share my story and reach other people to seek help before it gets to that breaking point... it's such a big aspect of my mission".

Mr Fox said parents are dealing with more external pressures than they did before.

"If you got a promotion at work and you didn't have a skillset to match that new role you would get training to help you," he said.

"Whereas when you become a parent it's the exact same thing: so many people have not had the help, support and education of how to actually look after themselves and their kids".

"The big first step is to know that it's OK not to be OK and it's OK to reach out and talk to someone and ask for that help and support," he added.

Studies have shown that postnatal depression affects 10% to 15% of women within the first year of giving birth.

Data on how the condition impacts men is much harder to quantify as not many men come forward.

More information on mental health services can be found here

Main image: Fin McKenna Fox and his family. Image: Supplied