The scope of nursing research on parenting is limited. The roles, functions, and contexts of parenting are not well defined. Further research is required to describe parenting and how parenting affects the health of individuals and families.

Pregnancy is considered a teachable moment for helping women who smoke to quit, yet few studies have examined smoking behavior of expectant fathers. The present study considers the possibility that pregnancy is a teachable moment for expectant fathers as well and describes smoking and associated behaviors of men during their partner's pregnancy. Participants were 138 low-income men living with their pregnant partners. Using telephone interviews, we found 63% of the men had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. Current smoking was reported by 49.3% of expectant fathers (39.1% daily smoking; 10.2% some days). Expectant fathers' current smoking was associated with having a lower level of education (p<.0001), pregnant partner being a current smoker (p=.0002), higher quantity of alcohol consumption per day of drinking (p=.0003), and absence of smoking prohibitions inside the home (p<.0001). In the past year, 70.1% of the current smokers tried to quit. We found high rates of smoking in low-income expectant fathers, and an expectant father's smoking during his partner's pregnancy was associated with his pregnant partner continuing to smoke. A majority of expectant fathers identified as current smokers tried to quit in the past year or indicated an intention to quit in the near future. Intervention during pregnancy that targets pregnant women and expectant fathers who smoke could lead to more households without tobacco use and thus have positive implications for paternal, maternal, and family health. Further clinical and research attention is needed to address the smoking behaviors of both expectant fathers and their pregnant partners.

Men's health risk behaviors are rarely considered as a component of their partners' prenatal care. Men living with a pregnant partner completed telephone surveys at two time points, during pregnancy and postpartum, answering questions about tobacco and alcohol use behaviors and other sociodemographic variables. Men's smoking did not change significantly from pregnancy (46.9%) to postpartum (45.8%). Hazardous drinking (five or more drinks/day in a month) changed from 27.1% to 22.9%. Nonsmoking status of men was significantly related to a pregnant partner's quitting smoking during pregnancy and remaining quit at postpartum (p = .019). Household prohibitions from indoor smoking increased from 62.5% at pregnancy to 76% postpartum (p = .009). Pregnancy alone does not appear sufficient for men to quit smoking or change hazardous drinking. Continued exclusion of young men during prenatal care is a missed opportunity to address health risk behaviors and improve paternal, maternal, and family health.

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