Supporting fathers in the transition to parenthood
Claire Halle
Clinical Nurse, Ellen Barron Family Centre, Community Child Health Services, Royal Children’s Hospital Health Service District, Brisbane QLD
Toni Dowd
Queensland University Technology, School of Nursing; Community Child Health Services, Royal Children’s Hospital Health Service District, Brisbane QLD
Cathrine Fowler
Professor, Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, University of Technology, Sydney NSW
Karin Rissel
Clinical Nurse, Ellen Barron Family Centre, Community Child Health Services, Royal Children’s Hospital Health Service District, Brisbane QLD
Kathy Hennessy
Clinical Nurse, Ellen Barron Family Centre, Community Child Health Services, Royal Children’s Hospital Health Service District, Brisbane QLD
Regina MacNevin
Clinical Nurse, Ellen Barron Family Centre, Community Child Health Services, Royal Children’s Hospital Health Service District, Brisbane QLD
Marie Ann Nelson
Clinical Nurse, Ellen Barron Family Centre, Community Child Health Services, Royal Children’s Hospital Health Service District, Brisbane QLD
PP: 57 - 70
Abstract
Knowledge of the experience of parenthood is usually from a woman's perspective. The resulting outcome is that knowledge about the experience of fatherhood has been limited. Fathers are starting to change this situation by sharing their experience as is evidenced by the overall response of 267 fathers to this study.
This paper focuses on the exploration of 22 men's feelings and beliefs about fatherhood; and their expectations and views about parenting. The paper will also investigate how fathers' antenatal expectations matched the reality of early family life including emotional well-being, attitudes to parenting, adjustment to family life and sources of support.
The quantitative and qualitative data of the 22 fathers who responded to both the antenatal and postnatal questionnaires used within this paper are drawn from a larger Queensland survey of women and men during the antenatal and postnatal period.
Keywords
fatherhood, experience, expectations, parenting, nursing
References
Bielawka-Batorowics E and Kossakowska-Petrycka K (2006) Depressive mood in men after the birth of their offspring in relation to a partner's depression, social support, fathers' personality and prenatal expectations, Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 24(1): 21-29.
Bradley E, MacKenzie M and Boath E (2004) The experience of first-time fathers: A brief report, Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 22(1): 45-47.
Bronte-Tinkew J, Carrono J and Guzman L (2006) Resident fathers' perceptions of their roles and links to involvement with infants, Fathering 4(3): 254-285.
Buist A, Morse C and Durkin S (2003) Men's adjustment to fatherhood: implications for obstetric health care, Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing 32(2): 172-180.
Cabrera N, Tamis-LeMonda C, Bradley R, Hofferth S and Lamb M (2000) Fatherhood in the twenty-first century, Child Development 71(1): 127-136.
Christie J, Poulton B and Bunting B (2008) An integrated mid-range theory of postpartum family development: a guide for research and practice, Journal of Advanced Nursing 61(1): 38-50.
Condon, J (2006) What about dad? Psychosocial and mental health issues for new fathers, Australian Family Physician 35(9): 690-692.
Condon J, Boyce P and Corkindale C (2004) The first-time fathers study: A prospective study of the mental health and wellbeing of men during the transition to parenthood, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 38: 56-64.
Cook J, Jones R, Dick A and Singh A (2005) Revisiting men's role in father involvement: The importance of personal expectations, Fathering 3(2): 165-178.
Cozolino L (2006) The neuroscience of human relationships: Attachment and the developing social brain, WW Norton & Co, New York.
Diemer G (1997) Expectant fathers: Influence of perinatal education on stress, coping, and spousal relations, Research in Nursing & Health 20: 281-293.
Dudley M, Roy K, Kelk N and Bernard D (2001) Psychological correlates of depression in fathers and mothers in the first postnatal year, Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 19(3): 187-202.
Everett K, Bullock L, Gage J, Longo D, Geden of rural low-income expectant fathers, Public Health Nursing 23(4): 297-306.
Fägerskiöld A 2006 Support of fathers of infant by the child health nurse, Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 20: 79-85.
Fowler C (2000) Producing the new mother: Surveillance, normalization and maternal learning. PhD thesis, University of Technology, Sydney.
Fowler C and Lee A (2007) Knowing how to know: Questioning ‘knowledge transfer' as a model for knowing and learning on health, Studies in Continuing Education 29(2): 181-193.
Johnson M and Baker S (2004) Implications of coping repertoire as predictors of men's stress, anxiety and depression following pregnancy, childbirth and miscarriage: A longitudinal study, Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetric Gynecology 25: 87-98.
Henwood K and Procter J (2003) The ‘good father': Reading men's accounts of paternal involvement during the transition to first-time fatherhood, British Journal of Social Psychology 42: 337-355.
Hudson D, Campbell-Grossman C, Fleck M, Elek S and Shipman A (2003) Effects of the new fathers network on first-time fathers' parenting self-efficacy and parenting satisfaction during transition to parenthood, Issues in Contemporary Pediatric Nursing 26: 217-229.
Lee C and Doherty W (2007) Marital satisfaction and father involvement during the transition to parenthood, Fathering 5(2): 75-96.
Nyström K and Öhrling K (2004) Parenthood experiences during the child's first year: Literature review, Journal of Advanced Nursing 46(3): 319-330.
Pesonen A, Räikkönen K, Strandberg T, Keltikangas-Järvinen L and Järvenpää A (2004) Insecure adult attachment style and depressive symptoms: Implications for parental perceptions of infant temperament, Infant Mental Health Journal 25(2): 99-116.
Premberg Å, Hellström A and Berg M (2008) A view from inside the family - becoming a father: experiences of the first year as father, Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 22: 56-63.
Sarkadi A, Kristiansson R, Oberklaid F and Bremberg S (2008) Fathers; involvement and children's developmental outcomes: A systematic review of longitudinal studies, Acta Paediatrica 97: 153-158.
Solantaus T and Salo S (2005) Paternal postnatal depression: fathers emerge from the wings, The Lancet 365(9478): 2158-2159.
Spector A (2006) Fatherhood and depression: A review of risks, effects, and clinical application, Issues in Mental Health Nursing 27: 867-883.
eContent Home
