We’re pregnant!

With healthcare aimed at mother and baby during pregnancy, it is understandable that the father’s experience may be neglected during this critical time in family development. But the Malta Midwives Assocation is insisting on the importance of preparing first-time dads for fatherhood and maintains there is a growing interest in understanding their role in pregnancy.

Pregnancy and the birth of a child leave different impacts on women and men, affecting their personal health and relationship. However, with healthcare provision aimed at optimising the health of mother and baby, it is understandable that the role and experiences of the father may be neglected during this critical time in family development.

Fathers’ experiences of pregnancy still appear to be less well understood and documented

While the health of mothers has received extensive attention from researchers, health practitioners and policy makers, fathers’ experiences of pregnancy still appear to be less well understood and documented. In recent years, however, it has been noted that there is a growing interest in understanding fathers’ experiences and their role in pregnancy.

To support this, the concept of fatherhood has been an area of increasing interest to researchers over the past 25 years. Fatherhood is viewed as a complex and evolving developmental process. The idea of a man becoming a father makes him happy and proud, but may terrify him due to the increasing number of responsibilites awaiting him in the future.

A critical challenge identified for fathers is their transition to fatherhood during pregnancy and its effect on their physical and psychological health, including the potential impact on the functioning of the family as a whole.

A descriptive representation of families today is of critical importance as family units are becoming more complex and diverse, and the effect on one individual can influence the rest of the family. A clear definition of the family needs to reflect this diversity for a greater understanding of fatherhood, especially first-time fatherhood.

The Malta Midwives Association supports the notion that pregnancy and birth are the first major opportunities to engage fathers in the appropriate care and upbringing of their children. In view of this, first-time fathers need to be understood and supported as they have a role in being productive members of society, who guide their children to be constructive citizens.

Early research related to parenting has focused primarily on maternal-infant attachment. A study by psychologist Mary Ainsworth in 1969 supported the premise that the infant is initially dependent on the mother, and this early contact is thought to have an impact on the quality of the mother-infant interaction. However, studies specifically related to fatherhood research have supported the complexity of the transition to fatherhood and identified that the expectations and needs of fathers cannot be ignored.

As the process of becoming a parent is not the same for the mother and father, caution needs to be ensured when transferring knoweldge from studies on transition to motherhood into the domain of fatherhood. Literature shows that men also pass through a transition when they become fathers – a stressful and challenging time as this period in life is ever-changing and non-stagnant.

Over the past 25 years, midwives have become increasingly aware of the importance of fathers and fatherhood, since the first-time father is also exposed to a number of physical and psychological changes, which can become noticeable during pregnancy.

As a profession, midwives also have a crucial role in supporting men from the time of confirmation of pregnancy right up to the months following the birth. Midwives, therefore, need to take on the responsibility to develop a caring approach that is relevant to the fathers in their care. They also need an understanding of the father’s experience and perspective throughout the pregnancy.

As various studies affirm that men do really need a voice, the Malta Midwives Association is directing both its midwifery education and practice towards health promotion. This specific direction towards first-time fathers will help educate and support them well in advance about what to expect during pregnancy.

In order to achieve this positive fatherhood, the association has drafted a more modern approach to antenatal classes. As part of the parentcraft programme, first-time fathers attending classes at the Malta Midwives Association and at Mater Dei are being offered the opportunity to attend a father­hood preparation class, whereby they can meet to discuss freely as men about their ongoing ex­perience of pregnancy and the challenges they are identifying ahead of them. The aim is for them to discuss with first-time fathers at an early stage of parenting development, while assisting them to develop positive parenting attitudes and strategies.

The main topics discussed during this session are Changing Relationships, Early Days, Juggling Life as a New Parent and, most importantly, the Joys of Parenthood.

To date, this class has been well received and the Malta Midwives Association encouarges all first-time fathers to attend as it believes that midwifery practice and education can be informed and improved by the very people to whom such care is directed.

Through this involvement, the association believes an insightful and intuitive approach to maternity care be developed to ensure that the notion of family-centred care becomes a reality.