gms | German Medical Science

Background: The supportive role of fathers is becoming increasingly important for their partners in the perinatal time. Fathers’ experience of childbirth is multidimensional [1] . They experience positive and negative feelings, such as fear and helplessness [1]. Fathers feel often excluded from the perinatal care that mothers receive [2]. Research regarding the need for perinatal support programmes for fathers is lacking. However, there are indications for the demand of postnatal debriefing with fathers [3].

Aim: The aim of this research was to explore how fathers process the experience of childbirth. Furthermore, the potential need for postnatal debriefing for fathers was explored as well as the importance of the support from midwives.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted between November 2018 and March 2019. Six fathers who accompanied the mother of their child during labour were recruited from a hospital in Hamburg. Data analysis was conducted using contextual structuring qualitative content analysis [4].

Results: Three first-time fathers and three multiple-time fathers were interviewed one to nine weeks after birth. All fathers expeirenced overwhelming happiness, as well as fear and helplessness. The findings further suggest that dealing openly with their feelings played an important role in psychological processing the birth experience. Professional support and clarification during birth helped fathers to process the birth experience. Participants also reported that there was no time to think about the birth due to the new challenges as fathers. Furthermore, feelings of happiness helped fathers to draw a line under what had happend so that worries and questions were not viewed as important anymore. None of the fathers received postnatal debriefing from midwifes or doctors. The offer of a postnatal debriefing was viewed positively overall. Fathers express that this may be particularly useful after a long and complicated birthing experience.

Relevance: The results indicate that fathers should be included in the perinatal care by midwives to aid the processing of their birth experience.

Conclusion: Fathers should be routinely included in midwifery care. It is important to give social recognition to the challenges and emotions of overload fathers experience in the postpartum period. Information about pregnancy, birth and puerperium, especially for fathers, should be created and disseminated specifically to support fathers. This may support men in their new role as fathers.

Ethics and conflicts of interest: No vote on ethics was obtained. The research was financed by own resources. There are no conflicts of interest.

The PDF file of the poster submitted for the meeting is available in German as Attachment 1 [Attach. 1].