Pregnant partners: Fathers of theGrowing Up in New Zealandchildren

Abstract

We describe the demography, health, pregnancy behaviours, family histories, and intentions for their children, of the 4401 partners who were enrolled antenatally into Growing Up in New Zealand, New Zealand's new birth cohort study. The prospective fathers and their pregnant partners had similar demographics. Amongst the prospective fathers there were high rates of obesity, although the majority described themselves as healthy. Higher rates of antenatal depression were present than reported in overseas studies of men. Nearly one-third of the prospective fathers changed their dietary and smoking behaviours during their partners' pregnancies, highlighting an exciting window of opportunity presented by pregnancy to infl uence health-related lifestyle changes in men. Most expected high levels of involvement in the care of their babies, in marked contrast to previous generations of fathers. This baseline description provides a context for understanding the contribution these men, as fathers, will make to the health and wellbeing of their children.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: Factor Structure of the Father-Report and Parent Agreement in 2-Year-Old Children

“…In general, statistics for mothers on key parameters such as mother’s age, ethnicity, parity, and socioeconomic status were comparable with those of all NZ parents (Morton et al, 2013), and children within the cohort are broadly generalizable to current NZ births (Morton et al, 2015). Recruited pregnant women were asked to provide contact information for a partner, defined as someone whom they were in a “significant social relationship with” (Pryor, Morton, Bandara, Robinson, & Grant, 2014). A total of 4,401 partners consented to participate in the study.…”

The Experience of Australia's First Nations Men Supporting Their Partners During Childbirth: A Descriptive, Interpretive Study

“…There is increasing evidence identifying the positive effects of partner's involvement during childbirth in achieving good outcomes for women and their babies, including weight gain in premature newborns, longer breastfeeding duration, better academic achievement, higher self-esteem and less antisocial behaviour in offspring later in life, and lower rates of maternal depression and anxiety (Bar-Yam & Darby, 1997;Buist, Morse, & Durkin, 2003;Coutinho et al, 2016;Pryor, Morton, Bandara, Robinson, & Grant, 2014). ID:p0070 Researchers have explored the experience of expectant fathers across the world over the last three decades (Bäckström & Hertfelt, 2011;Buist et al, 2003;Coutinho et al, 2016;Kakaire, Kaye, & Osinde, 2011;Machin, 2015;Vehviläinen-Julkunen & Liukkonen, 1998).…”