The experience of fathers during the covid-19 UK maternity care restrictions.

OBJECTIVE

During the COVID-19 pandemic fathers in the UK were excluded from many aspects of maternity care to reduce escalating transmission rates. This study explores the experiences of fathers who had a baby during the pandemic to understand what effect these maternity restrictions had on them and their relationship to the baby.

DESIGN

A qualitative interview study of the experiences of fathers whose baby was born during the pandemic-related UK maternity restrictions.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Non-probability voluntary response sampling of 20 fathers: including 13 primiparous fathers and 7 multiparous fathers. Eligibility criteria were that fathers lived in the UK and had a baby born on or after the 23 March 2020; the start of the most severe COVID-19 maternity restrictions. Participants were interviewed remotely via telephone using semi-structured interviews which were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

FINDINGS

Four themes, including ten sub-themes, were identified that described fathers' experiences of the maternity restrictions and the father-baby relationship. The themes were: (1) The impact on paternal experience: this theme describes a collective negative paternal maternity experience as a result of the restrictions. Notably, father exclusion produced feelings of isolation and a sense of loss, along with a disconnection from the pregnancy. (2) The impact on the father-baby relationship: this theme discusses the adverse consequence of the restrictions on initial father-baby bonding. (3) Observed impact on mothers: the observed detrimental impact that excluding fathers had on maternal mental health and well-being. Finally, (4) Fatherhood in the 'new normal': the change of daily living during the pandemic aided profound family relationship building, improving long-term father-baby bonding, compared to pre-pandemic conditions.

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The findings provide evidence of undesirable consequences the pandemic-related UK maternity restrictions had on birth partners. With restrictions to maternity care implemented across the globe, these concerns may be applicable at an international scale.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

This study adds to other contemporary literature on this subject and can inform discussion among maternity services of the importance of including fathers for improved parental well-being and initial infant bonding.