Verification of a Prenatal Nursing Intervention Program to help First-time Expectant Fathers Adapt to Paternal Roles:

<p>The authors provided a prenatal nursing intervention program for expectant couples to help male spouses adapt to paternal roles focusing on the formation of paternal identity. This study aims to elucidate the effects of the program on the mothers who participated in the program together with their male spouses. A longitudinal quasi-experimental research design is used. Mothers who were provided with the intervention were grouped in the intervention group, and those who undertook standard nursing practices were in the control group. In the comparisons, a Japanese version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), a Japanese version of the Quality Marriage Index (QMI), and the Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI-SF) were used. The data from nine expectant mothers in the intervention group and the thirty-one in the control group were analyzed, and the analysis showed no statistically significant differences in the EPDS, QMI, and PSI-SF. However, the number of mothers in the intervention group who reported depressive symptoms during the pregnancy decreased after the birth of the child. The findings suggest the necessity to improve the modified version of the prenatal nursing intervention program towards the use in clinical settings by combining the results of these studies and those of nursing intervention programs used for this period during pregnancy.<br> </p>