Source
Midwifery Research Department, Room 54, Antenatal Clinic, Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Crown Street, Liverpool L8 7SS, UK. heather.longworth@lwh.nhs.uk
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
to explore the role, expectations and meanings that individual fathers ascribe to their presence at birth.
DESIGN:
a Heideggerian phenomenological approach utilising in-depth interviews at two different time points.
SETTING:
large tertiary maternity unit in the North West of England.
PARTICIPANTS:
11 first-time fathers accessed through hospital-based parentcraft sessions.
FINDINGS:
four main themes were evident: fathers' disconnection with pregnancy and labour; fathers on the periphery of events during labour; control; and fatherhood beginning at birth and reconnection.
KEY CONCLUSIONS:
birth is the moment that fathers ascribe as the beginning of fatherhood. However, through their lack of knowledge and perceived control, they struggle to find a role there.
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:
midwives are ideally placed to help fathers to find a role through parentcraft and encouraging participation at birth.
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.