'The calm before the storm': A qualitative study of fathers' experiences of early labour.
Early labour
Fathers
Maternal health services
Pregnancy
Journal
Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives
ISSN: 1878-1799
Titre abrégé: Women Birth
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 101266131
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Sep 2020
Sep 2020
Historique:
received:
04
07
2019
revised:
06
11
2019
accepted:
06
11
2019
pubmed:
28
11
2019
medline:
20
11
2020
entrez:
28
11
2019
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Early labour care presents a challenge for maternity services and is a cause of dissatisfaction for women planning birth in an obstetric or midwifery unit who may feel unsupported or unwelcome at their planned place of birth. Little is known about the perspectives of men who support their partner during early labour. Opportunity sample offathers (n=12) in the UK who had been present during their partner's labour in the previous twelve months. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed before thematic analysis. Fathers learned about the stages of labour during antenatal education and felt well prepared for early labour but found their knowledge difficult to apply, and relied on their partners to decide when to travel to the planned place of birth. Early labour was described as the 'calm before the storm' during which they carried out practical tasks or rested to ensure they could fulfil their role when labour progressed. However, men frequently felt 'like a spare part' during the later stages of labour. The study has implications for antenatal educators, midwives and others supporting couples during pregnancy and labour. It supports reconsideration of how information about labour progress can be most usefully conveyed to couples. Professionals could acknowledge the value of supportive tasks carried out by fathers that might otherwise be experienced as doing 'nothing'. Further research should recruit more diverse samples of men and same-sex couples. Dyadic data collection methods may be of value.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Early labour care presents a challenge for maternity services and is a cause of dissatisfaction for women planning birth in an obstetric or midwifery unit who may feel unsupported or unwelcome at their planned place of birth. Little is known about the perspectives of men who support their partner during early labour.
METHODS
METHODS
Opportunity sample offathers (n=12) in the UK who had been present during their partner's labour in the previous twelve months. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed before thematic analysis.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Fathers learned about the stages of labour during antenatal education and felt well prepared for early labour but found their knowledge difficult to apply, and relied on their partners to decide when to travel to the planned place of birth. Early labour was described as the 'calm before the storm' during which they carried out practical tasks or rested to ensure they could fulfil their role when labour progressed. However, men frequently felt 'like a spare part' during the later stages of labour.
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
The study has implications for antenatal educators, midwives and others supporting couples during pregnancy and labour. It supports reconsideration of how information about labour progress can be most usefully conveyed to couples. Professionals could acknowledge the value of supportive tasks carried out by fathers that might otherwise be experienced as doing 'nothing'. Further research should recruit more diverse samples of men and same-sex couples. Dyadic data collection methods may be of value.
Identifiants
pubmed: 31771817
pii: S1871-5192(19)30452-4
doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2019.11.002
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
490-495Informations de copyright
Crown Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.