Midwife-father communications during childbirth: an ethnographic study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do midwives and fathers communicate during labour and birth? An ethnographic study in the North West of England
IRAS ID
206545
Contact name
Debbie Garrod
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Over the past 60 years, fathers’ presence during labour and birth in the UK has increasingly become the norm. Before this time, fathers were not encouraged or ‘allowed’ to be present. From the 1960s, practice changed and fathers are now actively encouraged to be present. Recent Government policy consistently highlights the key importance of fathers’ active involvement in the lives their families in terms of positive impact on children’s long term outcomes.
Previous research has focussed on a range of aspects of fathers’ involvement: potential benefits; the different roles they play; their experiences and emotions; ambivalent status within the hierarchy of health services; significance in marking the transition to fatherhood and bonding with the baby. Existing evidence highlights that men often feel helpless, distressed and disempowered, sometimes traumatised by the experience, to the point of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It identifies the midwife has a crucial role to play in involving him in sensitive, appropriate ways and the clear potential for engaging the father more fully, thus enhancing the experience for both parents. However, little is known about how this potential may be translated into practice. This is a key issue this study seeks to address.
Most studies involving fathers collect data via interviews and questionnaires. This study's ethnographic approach involves direct observation of the care by midwives of approximately 10 couples during labour and post-birth interviews with parents and midwives. Direct observation offers the potential to collect data that are rich and have an immediacy not captured by interviews alone. Post-birth interviews further enrich the observational data. Analysis of the data will identify fathers’ needs for support during childbirth, examine the roles played by midwives and inform the development of a model for communication and support by the midwife; an area in which midwives currently receive little specific training.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0080
Date of REC Opinion
20 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion