"I was doubtful of being the true father of the preterm baby": factors affecting fathers' involvement in the care of preterm babies admitted in the neonatal unit at Kawempe National Referral Hospital, Uganda. a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND

Fathers' involvement in the care of preterm babies has been associated with good health outcomes for the mother and the baby. However, fathers' involvement in the Neonatal Unit (NU) in Uganda remains sub-optimal and factors influencing this are not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring the factors affecting fathers' involvement in the care of preterm babies admitted in neonatal unit at Kawempe National Referral Hospital (KNRH).

METHODS

This was a qualitative exploratory study conducted in the NU at Kawempe National Referral Hospital between April and July 2023. It included fathers whose preterm babies were admitted in the NU and were stable at the time of study. Data was collected using an in-depth interview guide with 24 fathers of preterm babies and key informant interview guide with the nine health workers who were working in the NU. Data was analyzed using manual thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The fathers in this study had a mean age of 33 years, most of them were married and were employed in the informal sector. The perceived and actual roles of fathers of admitted preterm babies reported in this study mostly included providing financial support, direct childcare activities, providing emotional and physical support to the mother. The key facilitators to fathers' involvement in the care of the preterm babies were; at individual level; improvement in health condition of the preterm baby, desire to fulfil responsibility, at interpersonal level, support from friends and relatives; at health facility level, the good quality of service delivery; and at community level, the positive cultural and religious beliefs. Barriers included the fear of preterm babies, financial constraints, busy work schedules of fathers, discouragements from peers, poor relationship between couples; poor attitude of hospital staff, long hospital stay and inhibiting interaction between the father of preterm and mother-in-law.

CONCLUSION

Most perceived roles were actually played by fathers whose preterm babies were admitted in the NU and various facilitators encouraged them to get involved in the care. However, fathers faced multiple barriers which needed to be resolved to increase their involvement.