Clinical and maternal factors related to father's involvement in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study.
Hillary Bastos Vasconcelos Rodrigues, Victórya Suéllen Maciel Abreu, Bruna Barroso de Freitas and 5 others
PMID 42561272WHAT IT FOUND
Half of fathers never went to prenatal checkups, though 42.3% always attended ultrasounds.
Involvement was higher when mothers worked, lived with their partner, had fewer children, and had fewer pregnancies, and lower with low family income.
Key findings
01Fathers were least present at prenatal checkups: 65 of 130 women said he never accompanied them, while 55 said he always attended ultrasound appointments.
02Paternal involvement was higher among women who worked during pregnancy (median 21.0 versus 19.0, p=0.049), lived with their partner (21.0 versus 8.0, p>0.001), lived with up to two children (20.5 versus 15.5, p=0.035), or had up to two pregnancies (21.0 versus 19.0, p=0.035).
03Lower family income was associated with lower paternal involvement: women with income up to one minimum wage had median 19.0 versus 21.0 for higher income (p=0.022), and income correlated with involvement (r=0.246, p=0.005).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used convenience sampling from two public primary health care units in one Brazilian city, so it may not represent private services, high-risk pregnancies, or other regions. The sample included only pregnant women at low obstetric risk, excluding those with hearing impairment that prevented communication. Fathers were not interviewed; paternal involvement was reported by mothers through a questionnaire. The Father’s Involvement during Pregnancy Inventory had a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.698 and was not validated for Brazilian families. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that income, employment, living arrangement, number of children, or number of pregnancies caused differences in paternal involvement.
Declared interests
A Ministry of Education grant through the Tutorial Education Program supported the work, and the Federal University of Ceará provided structural support; the supplied text does not list competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that low income, not living with a partner, more children, or more pregnancies cause less father involvement. This was a cross-sectional survey of mothers’ reports, and it did not test whether nurses can change involvement or improve maternal and child outcomes.