Department of Community and Mental Health, Kamuzu College of Nursing, University of Malawi, P,O, Box 415, Blantyre, Malawi.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2012 Dec 5;12:141. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-12-141.
Exploring the experiences and views of men who had attended the birth of their children is very vital, especially in a setting where traditionally only women accord women support during labour and childbirth. The insights drawn from the male partners' views and experiences could enhance the current woman-centred midwifery model that encompasses the needs of the baby, the woman's family and other people important to the woman, as defined and negotiated by the woman herself. This paper explored the views and experiences of men who attended the birth of their children from two private hospitals in an urban setting in southern Malawi.
This study used an exploratory descriptive qualitative approach. The data were collected through in-depth interviews from 20 men from Blantyre, a city in the southern part of Malawi, who consented to participate in the study. These men attended the birth of their children at Blantyre Adventist and Mlambe Mission Hospitals within the past two years prior to data collection in August 2010. A semi-structure interview guide was used to collect data. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data set.
Four themes were identified to explain the experiences and views of men about attending childbirth. The themes were motivation; positive experiences; negative experiences; reflection and resolutions. The negative experiences had four sub-themes namely shame and embarrassment, helplessness and unprepared, health care provider--male partner tension, and exclusion from decision-making process.
The findings showed that with proper motivational information, enabling environment, positive midwives' attitude and spouse willingness, it is possible to involve male partners during childbirth in Malawi. Midwives, women and male peers are vital in the promotion of male involvement during childbirth. In addition, midwives have a duty to ensure that men are well prepared for the labour and childbirth processes for the experience to be a positive one.
探索男性在陪伴分娩过程中的体验和看法是非常重要的，尤其是在传统上只有女性在分娩和产后阶段得到支持的环境中。从男性伴侣的观点和经验中获得的见解可以增强当前以女性为中心的助产模式，该模式涵盖了婴儿、女性家庭和其他对女性重要的人的需求，这些需求是由女性自己定义和协商的。本文探讨了在马拉维南部一个城市的两家私立医院分娩的男性的观点和体验。
本研究采用探索性描述性定性方法。数据通过对来自马拉维南部城市布兰太尔的 20 名男性的深入访谈收集而来，这些男性在 2010 年 8 月数据收集之前的过去两年内在布兰太尔 Adventist 和 Mlambe Mission 医院陪伴分娩。使用半结构化访谈指南收集数据。采用定性内容分析方法对数据集进行分析。
确定了四个主题来解释男性对分娩的体验和看法。这些主题是动机；积极的体验；负面体验；反思和解决。负面体验有四个子主题，分别是羞耻和尴尬、无助和准备不足、医护人员与男性伴侣之间的紧张关系以及被排除在决策过程之外。
研究结果表明，通过适当的动机信息、有利的环境、积极的助产士态度和配偶的意愿，在马拉维让男性伴侣参与分娩是有可能的。助产士、妇女和男性同伴在促进男性参与分娩方面至关重要。此外，助产士有责任确保男性为分娩和产后过程做好充分准备，以使他们的体验是积极的。
