Paediatric Critical Care Unit, The Sheffield Children's Hospital, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TH, UK.
Soc Sci Med. 2012 Sep;75(6):1106-13. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.04.018. Epub 2012 May 17.
More fathers than ever before attend at the birth of their child and, internationally, there is a palpable pressure on maternity and neonatal services to include and engage with fathers. It is, thus, more important than ever to understand how fathers experience reproductive and neonatal health services and to understand how fathers can be successfully accommodated in these environments alongside their partners. In this paper we advance a theoretical framework for re-thinking fatherhood and health services approaches to fatherhood based on Critical Studies on Men (CSM). We illustrate the importance of this feminist informed theoretical approach to understanding the gendered experiences of fathers in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) setting in Northern Ireland. Using a longitudinal follow-up research design, with two data collection points, a total of 39 in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted with 21 fathers of infants admitted to the NICU between August 2008 and December 2009. The findings demonstrate: (i) how men are forging new gendered identities around the birth of their baby but, over time, acknowledge women as the primary caregivers; (ii) how social class is a key determinant of men's ability to enact hegemonic forms of 'involved fatherhood' in the NICU, and; (iii) how men also encounter resistance from their partners and health professionals in challenging a gender order which associates women with the competent care of infants. An understanding of these gendered experiences operating at both individual and structural levels is critical to leading change for the inclusion of fathers as equal parents in healthcare settings.
越来越多的父亲参与到孩子的出生过程中，在国际上，产妇和新生儿服务机构面临着一种明显的压力，即需要包容和吸引父亲参与其中。因此，了解父亲如何体验生殖和新生儿健康服务，以及如何成功地让父亲在这些环境中与他们的伴侣一起得到照顾，变得比以往任何时候都更加重要。在本文中，我们基于男性批判研究（Critical Studies on Men，CSM）提出了一个重新思考父权制和健康服务方法的理论框架。我们说明了这种以女性主义为导向的理论方法对于理解男性在北爱尔兰新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）环境中的性别体验的重要性。通过使用纵向随访研究设计，在 2008 年 8 月至 2009 年 12 月期间，对 21 名婴儿住院的父亲进行了两次数据收集，共进行了 39 次深入的半结构化访谈。研究结果表明：（i）男性在孩子出生时正在塑造新的性别认同，但随着时间的推移，他们承认女性是主要的照顾者；（ii）社会阶层是男性在 NICU 中实施霸权形式的“参与式父亲”的能力的关键决定因素；（iii）男性在挑战将女性与婴儿的护理能力联系起来的性别秩序时，也会遇到来自伴侣和卫生专业人员的阻力。了解这些在个人和结构层面上运作的性别体验，对于推动变革以将父亲作为平等的父母纳入医疗保健环境至关重要。
