Men and maternal care: how men make sense of their experiences with a partner's pregnancy, labor, and delivery

Abstract

Men often report wanting to be involved in a partner's pregnancy, labor, and delivery but may feel unsure of what to do or if they are allowed to participate. Existing studies describe men's participation and are mostly from non-communication disciplines, such as midwifery. This dissertation, guided by sensemaking theory, aimed to provide a communicative perspective to men's experiences with maternal health. Sensemaking theory examines the communicative process of making sense of lived experiences and the factors that influence an individual's sensemaking. The influences of societal expectations, as outlined in the U.S. master narrative of birth, were also examined. Sixteen men with partners who had recently given birth were interviewed and asked about how they participated in, and made sense of, their experiences with a partner's pregnancy, labor. and delivery. Data were analyzed through a hermeneutic phenomenological lens with the intention of describing and interpreting the lived experiences of these participants. Participants made sense of their experience by engaging in the process of noting memorable moments, placing boundaries on those moments, and labeling (explicitly and implicitly) the role they played. Participants fell into one of three roles (lead character, background character, and supportive character), often depending on their partners' needs. Most participants labeled themselves in a different role at different points, indicating that men's roles change throughout the process. When asked to story their partner's pregnancy, labor, and delivery, most told incomplete or incoherent stories. This could be due to their lack of practice telling the story or an expectation that men are not supposed to talk about maternal health. Additionally, participants discussed expectations of a normal pregnancy, feeling in control of the process, and being seen but not heard. These expectations reflected the U.S. master birth narrative which is characterized as a pronatalist (i.e., belief that posits all adults will desire to become parents and assumes all adults are able to get and sustain a pregnancy) narrative that privileges a medicalized model of birth. However, this sample was predominantly white, indicating that the master U.S. birth narrative may only reflect the experiences of a predominantly white population. This sheds light on a need for additional research examining the experiences of BIPOC women and their partners in maternal health. Practitioners and educators should encourage fathers or other support partners to be involved in maternal health. Participants who utilized doulas or midwives felt strongly that other people should do the same, and felt that this external support was vital for them to be able to support their partner and engage in pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Many participants felt pregnancy was supposed to be a time for them to prepare for parenthood but lacked the resources to do so. Prenatal educators should provide more information for parents to aid their transition from delivering a baby to parenting one. These findings extend understanding of men's experiences in maternal health by adding a communicative lens to this context. These findings also expand the timeframe by analyzing how men make sense of and engage with pregnancy, labor, and delivery and how that engagement or sensemaking may change over time, rather than only focusing on the stagnant role played by men in labor and delivery only. These findings also extend sensemaking theory by examining a family and health context and by examining the impact of societal expectations on men's sensemaking and engagement with pregnancy, labor, and delivery.