J Educ Res Nurs. Ahead of Print: JERN-57355 | DOI: 10.14744/jern.2024.57355

Fathers’ Emotions, Thoughts on Childbirth, and Coping with Childbirth Stress: A Qualitative Study

Gül Büşra Altunay Davran¹, Pınar Serçekuş Ak^2
1Department of Therapy and Rehabilitation, Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Uysal and Hasan Kalan Vocational School of Health Services, Karaman, Türkiye
²Department of Obstetric and Gynecological Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Türkiye

Background: Fathers may experience many emotions simultaneously during and before childbirth. Sometimes, fathers can feel conflicting emotions concurrently. Father’s needs are often overlooked in the birth process. There are few studies on fathers’ feelings about birth.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe fathers’ emotions, thoughts about childbirth, and how they cope with childbirth stress.

Methods: The study was a phenomenological and qualitative study. Seventeen fathers whose wives had given birth participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, which was then analyzed using content analysis methodology.

Results: Seventeen fathers participated in the study. The fathers were between 22 and 33 years of age. The data were gathered under three main themes: thoughts on childbirth, feelings about childbirth, and coping strategies. There were a total of eight subcategories under each theme. It was established that the fathers found vaginal birth more natural and healthier, and they wanted to be with their wives during the birth. It was found that the fathers intensely experienced a range of positive and negative emotions simultaneously, principally fear, and also stress, excitement, happiness, impatience, worry, curiosity, tension, and sadness.

Conclusion: In coping with stress during childbirth, the fathers felt the need for support from relatives and health personnel, positive thinking, and religious activities.

Keywords: Cesarean delivery, childbirth, emotions, father, vaginal delivery

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