Table 2 Fathers’ involvement in individual aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting by parity (excluding same sex and single parents) (%)
From: Fathers’ engagement in pregnancy and childbirth: evidence from a national survey
Primiparous women | Multiparous women | All women | |
|---|---|---|---|
(n = 2286) | (n = 2330) | (n = 4616) | |
Pregnancy and labour | |||
Overjoyed/pleased in reaction to pregnancy (4199) | 82.4 | 82.6 | 82.5 |
Present for pregnancy test* (3121) | 66.7 | 56.6 | 61.7 |
Present for 1 or more AN check* (3175) | 73.3 | 51.5 | 62.5 |
Present for 1 or more ultrasound scan* (4588) | 91.2 | 86.3 | 88.8 |
Present for 1 or more AN class* (1707) | 59.9 | 7.7 | 34.2 |
Present for labour* (4657) | 91.7 | 88.3 | 90.0 |
Not present for any of the above (125) | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
Information and decision-making | |||
Involved in finding information about pregnancy* (2044) | 54.5 | 27.0 | 40.9 |
Involved in finding information about labour/birth* (1947) | 51.8 | 25.8 | 38.9 |
Involved in making a birth plan* (2300) | 65.1 | 50.2 | 57.7 |
Involved in decision-making regarding AN screening* (2916) | 55.9 | 35.7 | 45.8 |
Involved in decision-making in labour* (2769) | 60.0 | 49.5 | 54.8 |
Not involved in any of the above* (815) | 11.5 | 21.7 | 16.6 |
Staff Communication | |||
Antenatally staff communication rated as good or very good* (3948) | 82.6 | 78.7 | 80.7 |
Intrapartum staff communication rated as good or very good (4326) | 87.6 | 88.0 | 87.8 |
Postnatally staff communication rated as good or very good (3653) | 73.6 | 75.6 | 74.6 |
Paternity leave * | |||
No time off (808) | 24.2 | 30.7 | 27.5 |
Less than two weeks off (744) | 13.2 | 17.3 | 15.3 |
Two weeks off (2142) | 48.7 | 40.2 | 44.4 |
More than two weeks off (625) | 13.9 | 11.8 | 12.8 |
Father involvement postnatally (a great deal/a bit) | 89.5 | 84.3 | 86.9 |
Nappy changing* (4419) | |||
Helping/supporting feeding* (4440) | 90.1 | 84.5 | 87.3 |
Helping when the baby cries (4731) | 93.2 | 92.9 | 93.0 |
Bathing the baby* (3932) | 85.3 | 69.3 | 77.3 |
Playing with the baby (4909) | 96.9 | 96.2 | 96.5 |
Looking after the baby when mother out/at work (4012) | 81.5 | 76.3 | 78.9 |