During the pregnancy and perinatal period of their spouses, first-time fathers may have physical symptoms in the face of family structural change. Therefore, for first-time fathers, the perinatal period is a critical period of stress and imbalance. Marital intimacy and social support may affect their stress and health status while they change their roles. The purpose of this study was to explore the changes of and correlations among marital intimacy, social support, and health status and predictors of first-time fathers’ health status during the perinatal period.
Methods:
A repeated measures study design was used in this study. A total of 217 first-time fathers who were over 20 years of age and whose spouses were in the third trimester of pregnancy were recruited for the study. The Chinese Health Questionnaire, Marital Intimacy Scale, and Social Support Scale were employed to collect data. Data were collected in the 36th week of pregnancy and the 1st and 4th weeks after childbirth.
Results:
Compared with the 36th week of pregnancy, the health status of the first-time fathers did not change significantly in the first week after childbirth and in the fourth week after childbirth. The levels of marital intimacy and social support of first-time fathers during the perinatal period increased significantly with time. Meanwhile, the first week after childbirth was a predictor of the health status of first-time fathers.
Conclusion:
During the perinatal period, especially the first week after childbirth, families mostly focus on mothers and babies, while the demands of fathers are often ignored, which will influence the fathers’ health status. This study only tracked the first-fathers’ health status in the 36th week of pregnancy and the 1st and 4th weeks after childbirth. Future studies could track them until one year after childbirth in order to explore the impact of the perinatal period on couples and their babies.