Fathers: A Severely Neglected Resource in the Birth Room

The Role of Fathers in the Birth Room

The role of fathers in the childbirth process is a topic that deserves much more understanding — and could prove to be a key piece in the puzzle of childbirth reform. When a heterosexual couple* goes through the experience of birth together, the father is perhaps the most valuable resource at the laboring woman’s disposal. And this resource is being shamefully underutilized.

The portrayal of fathers in popular media as clueless or inept during childbirth does little to encourage fathers to take an active and competent role in the birthing process. It’s important to challenge these stereotypes and offer more realistic depictions that inspire confidence and show fathers as capable support partners.

The Resource & Research Gaps

Materials about childbirth that are designed to speak directly to expectant fathers are few and far between. Most pregnancy and childbirth education materials are geared toward mothers, and while alternatives are beginning to appear in greater numbers, they still pale in both quality and quantity when compared to those targeted toward birthing people.** By creating resources that are tailored to fathers, we can empower them to be knowledgeable and active participants in the childbirth process, which can lead to a more supportive environment for mothers.

There’s a wide gap in research on how a supportive father can influence the birthing experience and labor progression. Though we know that having a supportive partner during childbirth is beneficial, we need to further explore how fathers contribute to this dynamic. By focusing research efforts in this area, we can better understand and utilize the father’s role for the benefit of the birthing person.

Fathers’ Impact on Placebo and Nocebo During Childbirth

There’s good reason to speculate that a father who is prepared — informationally and emotionally — could impact not only the birthing person’s psychological experience of birth but also the progress of the labor itself, by initiating (and/or perpetuating) a positive placebo effect for the laboring person.

It’s also worth considering how a father’s medical anxieties might create a nocebo effect — impacting their partner’s emotional and physical well-being during childbirth. If a father is anxious or fearful, these feelings can deeply impact the birthing person.*** Educating fathers on how to challenge & manage their anxieties can help create a more peaceful and reassuring atmosphere for everyone involved.

Conclusion

The need to provide better education for fathers on the topic of childbirth is clear. By addressing the lack of research, creating targeted resources, managing paternal anxieties, and improving media portrayals, we can help fathers to be the supportive partners that their loved ones deserve during childbirth. In the same way that birth is a uniquely powerful opportunity for empowerment for those giving birth, it is also a uniquely powerful opportunity to increase male partners’ confidence in their capacity to provide competent support and to deepen the bond between the two parents.

* Please note that this article examines the role of biologically male partners in heterosexual partnerships. It is not the author’s intent to exclude the experiences of other birth partners and partnership dynamics (lgbtq2+ couples, separated co-parents, friends/family members serving as primary birth partners, polyamorous relationships, etc). The narrow focus was a choice made intentionally to examine the unique challenges and stigmas that male partners face during their significant others’ birth experiences. It is not intended to imply that these challenges and stigmas are more severe than any other type of partner’s experience.

** For a particularly egregious example, compare the Bump’s “pregnancy week-by-week” page that is geared towards fathers-to-be (https://www.thebump.com/a/how-big-is-baby-dad-to-be-edition) to the pages that are geared towards mothers-to-be (https://www.thebump.com/pregnancy-week-by-week).

*** For example, see: Benedetti, F. (2013). Responding to nocebos through observation: social contagion of negative emotions. Pain, 154(8), 1165.)