Be Quiet and Man Up: A Qualitative Questionnaire Study into Fathers Who Witnessed Their Partner’s Birth Trauma

Abstract

Background: Research focusing on paternal mental health is limited, especially regarding the impact of the experience of poor mental health in the perinatal period. For example, little is known about the experiences of fathers who witness their partner’s traumatic birth and the subsequent impact on their mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore fathers’ experiences of witnessing a traumatic birth, how these experiences impacted their wellbeing, and what support they received during and following the traumatic birth. Methods: Sixty-one fathers were recruited via targeted social media to complete an anonymous online qualitative questionnaire regarding their birth trauma experience. Eligible participants were fathers aged eighteen or over, resided in the UK and had witnessed their partner’s traumatic birth (that did not result in loss of life). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data. Results: Three main themes were identified: ‘fathers’ understanding of the experience’ (subthemes: nothing can prepare you for it; merely a passenger; mixed experiences with staff; not about me); ‘life after birth trauma’ (subthemes: manhood after birth; inability to be happy; impact on relationships); and ‘the support fathers received vs what they wanted’ (subthemes: prenatal support; birth support; and postnatal support). Conclusions: Fathers reported that witnessing their partner’s traumatic birth had a significant impact on them. They felt this affected their mental health and relationships long into the postnatal period. However, there is no nationally recognised support in place for fathers to use as a result of their experiences. The participants attributed this to being perceived as less important than women in the postnatal period, and maternity services’ perceptions of the father more generally. Implications include ensuring support is available for both the mother and father following a traumatic birth, with additional staff training geared towards the father’s role.

Peripartum Cardiomyopathy and Spouses' Experiences of Persistent Uncertainty

“…Consistent with findings of spouses in other studies of obstetric emergencies, men in this study hid their feelings and reactions, believing they needed to appear strong (Daniels et al, 2020; Lindberg & Engström, 2013; Patel et al, 2019). Simmons (2019) described this as facading ; a man puts his own emotions on hold as a way of being supportive to his wife.…”

“…Men's emotional distress, shock, and fears, as exposed in our study, have been documented in studies of obstetric near misses (Mbalinda et al, 2015), and studies of cesarean births with complications (Lindberg & Engström, 2013). Consistent with our participants' descriptions of being sidelined, other obstetric studies also reported men feeling ignored, secluded, isolated, uncared for, overlooked, uninformed, a spectator, abandoned, or invisible (Daniels et al, 2020; Etheridge & Slade, 2017; Hodgson et al, 2021; Lindberg & Engström, 2013; Mbalinda et al, 2015; Messner, 2018; Patel et al, 2018). Emotional distress (Patel et al, 2019) and delayed treatment because of misdiagnoses (Dekker et al, 2016; Hess & Weinland, 2012), coupled with sidelining, likely increased the uncertainty these men faced.…”

“…Couples moving into parenthood during the uncertainties of PPCM would benefit from accurate information, counseling, and spiritual care. Nurses might improve the situation through proactive promotion of postpartum debriefings and postnatal education (Daniels et al, 2020;Lindberg & Engström, 2013), and mental health screening (Kumar et al, 2018) specific to men. Spouses feeling sidelined and ignored during a medical emergency is not a new finding.…”

Pastoral Leaders Perceptions of Mental Health and Relational Concerns within Faith Based Organizations

“…These researchers employed a qualitative questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions in which participants articulated how they perceived mental health, how they defined mental health, and how they understood their role in addressing mental health issues. A Qualitative questionnaire (also referred to as a qualitative survey) is an instrument comprised of open-ended questions and used to obtain information (Braun et al, 2013; Daniels et al, 2020). Researchers distributed the questionnaire ahead of time and did not restrict word count to allow participants to review questions in advance and provide more in-depth responses.…”

What kind of man gets depressed after having a baby?

“…Healthcare systems such as the UK National Health Service (NHS) have primarily focused service provision on maternal mental health and wellbeing during a woman's transition into parenthood. Our recent research has con rmed that fathers feel their mental health is overlooked by perinatal health professionals [17,18].…”