Australian Father’s Study: Expectant teenage fathers attitudes and roles during pregnancy.
Abstract
Background: There is limited published research on expectant fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy. We have previously reported higher levels of psychological distress and adverse social factors. Here we report on their expectations of fatherhood and perceived role in pregnancy.
Methods: Observational study of 50 expectant fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy and 50 expectant fathers not in the setting of teenage pregnancy, but living within the same outer metropolitan healthcare region. All fathers were enrolled within the larger Australian Father’s Study. Institutional ethics approval and consent were obtained via mothers. Fathers were recruited from antenatal clinics and community settings. Researchers administered demographic, attitudinal and role in decision-making questionnaires.
Results: Teenage fathers were more likely to smoke, be unemployed, have lower levels of education and be of aboriginal race (all p<0.05). Teenage fathers had a strong preference for natural birth (78%) without surgical or analgesic intervention (74%). 90% and 80% of fathers expressed a positive attitude towards infant vaccination and Down Syndrome screening. Teenage fathers were less likely to identify a role in other maternity related decisions. Only 20% identified a role in decisions on baby equipment, 12% on clothing, 12% on disposable/cloth nappies and 4% on creating a birth plan. Only 12% identified a role in promoting healthy lifestyle and diet in pregnancy. However, 70% of men identified a role in creating a safe home environment. Of concern, attitudes towards breastfeeding were not positive, with only 22% expressing a hope their partners would breastfeed. Most stated they did not care or preferred formula feeding (78%).
Conclusion: Expectant teenage fathers express a strong preference for natural childbirth but identify few paternal roles during pregnancy apart from preparing a safe home environment. Attitudes towards breastfeeding were disappointing and may represent one factor why teenage mothers have poor breastfeeding outcomes.
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... We know that in Australia, men with lower levels of formal education are less likely to get married, and more likely to have children outside marriage and to have children across multiple partnerships (Heard 2011;Thomson et al. 2014). Australian research also demonstrates the need to better understand the societal influences impacting young men and those more likely to become teenage fathers (Lam et al. 2015). ...
Young men are underrepresented in Australian research on family formation, especially young men who are nonmarital fathers, and are not university educated. In this pilot project, an interdisciplinary research team (demography, sociology, and gender studies) based in Australia set out to design an approach that would engage this particular group of young men on the topic of family formation. We decided to employ a nontraditional research method (which we call scripts) in order to engage young men indirectly on this sensitive issue. This article does not report on what we found; rather, our focus is on gender dynamics involving the research team’s imaginings of masculinity in the research process. We highlight and interrogate the gendered and heteronormative assumptions we made in the research design, anticipating that our experience can inform future research on masculinity and family formation.
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