Expectant father's attitude towards childbirth: a little attitude makes a big difference in delivery suite.

Abstract

An expectant father’s support during childbirth is vital to a parturient woman’s emotional well-being. Studies suggested that this type of support enables a woman to feel more comfort during labor by reducing maternal anxiety during childbirth. Materials and Methods: Descriptive study design with convenience sampling was adopted for this study. The data were collected for a period of 2 months (July 1, 2009 to August 30 2009) from 40 expectant fathers of low risk primigravida women not having any complications and waiting for normal vaginal delivery. The study was conducted in a private hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The attitude of expectant fathers was checked by using self-structured attitude scale contains 16 items. Results: The study findings revealed, the expectant fathers were scared about childbirth experience and they perceived it was more painful. The participants agreed that they were the best choice for the mother during delivery (P < 0.0001). The expectant fathers were reported that the mother should acquire the tender loving care provided by their partner during delivery (P < 0.0001), and also the pain relief methods (P < 0.0001) also essential during delivery to have successful perinatal outcome. Conclusion: The results revealed that the presence of expectant father provided more comfort and also shared the opinion about pain as well as suffering that occur during childbirth. These findings were strongly recommended in prenatal counseling to the couples, as an additional support and care which can be implemented during childbirth.