Malawian fathers’ views and experiences of attending the birth of their children: a qualitative study

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Johanne Sundby³  Ellen Chirwa¹  Address Malata¹  Lucy Ida Kululanga² 

[1] Department of Maternal and Child Health, Kamuzu College of Nursing, University of Malawi, Private Bag 1, Lilongwe, Malawi;Department of Community and Mental Health, Kamuzu College of Nursing, University of Malawi, P.O. Box 415, Blantyre, Malawi;Department of Community Medicine, Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1130, Blindern, Oslo, 0318, Norway

关键词: Malawi;    Labour;    Support;    Childbirth;    Male partner;   

Others  :  1151714
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2393-12-141

 received in 2012-07-02, accepted in 2012-11-28,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Exploring the experiences and views of men who had attended the birth of their children is very vital, especially in a setting where traditionally only women accord women support during labour and childbirth. The insights drawn from the male partners’ views and experiences could enhance the current woman-centred midwifery model that encompasses the needs of the baby, the woman’s family and other people important to the woman, as defined and negotiated by the woman herself. This paper explored the views and experiences of men who attended the birth of their children from two private hospitals in an urban setting in southern Malawi.

Methods

This study used an exploratory descriptive qualitative approach. The data were collected through in-depth interviews from 20 men from Blantyre, a city in the southern part of Malawi, who consented to participate in the study. These men attended the birth of their children at Blantyre Adventist and Mlambe Mission Hospitals within the past two years prior to data collection in August 2010. A semi-structure interview guide was used to collect data. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data set.

Results

Four themes were identified to explain the experiences and views of men about attending childbirth. The themes were motivation; positive experiences; negative experiences; reflection and resolutions. The negative experiences had four sub-themes namely shame and embarrassment, helplessness and unprepared, health care provider – male partner tension, and exclusion from decision-making process.

Conclusions

The findings showed that with proper motivational information, enabling environment, positive midwives’ attitude and spouse willingness, it is possible to involve male partners during childbirth in Malawi. Midwives, women and male peers are vital in the promotion of male involvement during childbirth. In addition, midwives have a duty to ensure that men are well prepared for the labour and childbirth processes for the experience to be a positive one.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Kululanga et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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