Factors related to the actual situation and implementation and perception of midwives' support to paternal role acquisition

<p>Purpose</p><p>To clarify the status of midwives' support to paternal role acquisition, their perception of the importance and future implementation of such support, as well as the difficulties faced in providing such support.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A survey of midwives at a perinatal maternal and childcare center in prefecture A was conducted using a self-administered, unmarked questionnaire, and descriptive statistics and content analysis were conducted.</p><p>Results</p><p>Seven facilities consented to the survey (35.0% consent rate), and the number of valid responses was 78 (35.6% valid response rate) for quantitative data and 68 (31.1% valid response rate) for qualitative data. In terms of the implementation status of the 37 items, the three items with the lowest percentage of “always/mostly implemented” were those related to peer support and breastfeeding. In terms of perceived importance, the item with the lowest percentage of “very important/somewhat important” responses was “having fathers with breastfeeding experience talk about the psychology of breastfeeding fathers”. In the scores for implementation of father support, there was a significant difference in the experience of learning about father support. In terms of recognition of the future implementation of support, 74 respondents (94.9%) answered that more active support for fathers is needed, and 14 codes were identified as support needed in the future, including “support using ICT (Information and Communication Technology)”. Sixty-eight respondents (87.2%) felt difficulties in providing support to fathers, and 13 codes were extracted, including “Insufficient time and opportunity to provide support to fathers”.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The items with the lowest percentages of implementation and recognition of importance were those related to peer support and breastfeeding, suggesting that particular consideration is needed to raise awareness of the importance and increase the implementation rate. There was a significant association between the implementation and learning experience of support for fathers, suggesting the need to examine midwifery education to provide quality support. Although awareness of the need for support for fathers was considered high, 87.2% of midwives felt difficulties in providing support, suggesting the need to expand support using ICT to increase opportunities to provide support.</p>