ISSN: 2471-9846

Journal of Community & Public Health Nursing
Open Access

Our Group organises 3000+ Global Conferenceseries Events every year across USA, Europe & Asia with support from 1000 more scientific Societies and Publishes 700+ Open Access Journals which contains over 50000 eminent personalities, reputed scientists as editorial board members.

Open Access Journals gaining more Readers and Citations
700 Journals and 15,000,000 Readers Each Journal is getting 25,000+ Readers

This Readership is 10 times more when compared to other Subscription Journals (Source: Google Analytics)
  • Research Article   
  • J Comm Pub Health Nursing 6: 256,
  • DOI: 10.4172/2471-9846.1000256

More Adjustments than One Might Expect: Perspectives of Men on Their Preparedness for Fatherhood

Annemarie E Bennett1* and John M Kearney2
1Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland
2School of Biological and Health Sciences, Technological University, Dublin, Ireland
*Corresponding Author : Annemarie E Bennett, Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Dublin 8, IRE, Ireland, Tel: 0035318962477, Email: abennet@tcd.ie

Received Date: Oct 22, 2020 / Accepted Date: Nov 05, 2020 / Published Date: Nov 12, 2020

Abstract

Objective: This study sought to investigate the perspectives of fathers on their experience of pregnancy and the post-partum period, with the aim of identifying the types of information and guidance most needed by men to enable them to approach fatherhood in an informed and prepared manner.

Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive design was employed. A sample of male partners of women who had given birth in the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital four to seven months prior to the study were posted a questionnaire on the transition to, and experience of, fatherhood. Closed-ended and open-endedquestionswere used. Sociodemographic data were also obtained, to include parity, age, nationality, marital status, educational attainment and employment status. Data were analysed in SPSS.

Results: Five hundred and eighty-three fathers participated (42% response rate). Mean age was 35.9 (SD ± 4.7) years. Most were Irish (97.1%, n566), college-educated (69.3%, n404), married (85.6%, n499), employed (91.1%, n530), and had at least one other child (61.6%, n359). The most common topics on which men wanted guidance during pregnancy included supporting a partner’s emotional wellbeing and their role during labour. Data categorised from open-ended questions highlighted that challenges in the post-partum period included: physical challenge of sleep deprivation; instances of feeling overwhelmed; challenges to the parenting partnership; navigating a new family structure; and, a lack of practical support.

Conclusion: Tailored solution-focused guidance is needed for men as they transition to fatherhood. Future research should investigate the views of younger fathers and fathers from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

Keywords: Pregnancy; Post-partum period; Labour; Healthcare

Citation: Bennett AE, Kearney JM (2020) “More Adjustments than one Might Expect”: Perspectives of Men on Their Preparedness for Fatherhood. J Comm Pub Health Nursing 6: 256. Doi: 10.4172/2471-9846.1000256

Copyright: © 2020 Bennett AE, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Top