ADRESSING THE DYNAMICS OF PATERNAL INVOLVEMENT IN PRENATAL CARE: CHALLENGES & RECOMMENDATIONS

There is a gap between the growing presence of fathers in the lives of their children and their inclusion within the prenatal process. The healthcare system fails to acknowledge fathers by not addressing their needs, issues or concerns programmatically or within the clinical setting. This topic is of public health relevance because a father's contribution to the health of his child may optimize the child's overall health and well-being. The presence of fathers during labor and delivery is common place in today's society, however little is known about their birthing expectations and needs. Furthermore, the literature on this topic is sparse. Maternal child health is the phrase used for the study of women and children, interestingly, paternal child health is invisible, and the phrase is non-existent. This research study seeks to address this gap by looking at programs that engage fathers in order to make recommendations in the prenatal health care sector. Interviews were conducted with fathers to assess their experiences throughout the prenatal process. The mother-baby dyad has a historical context, but as the dynamics of our society has changed, the healthcare system cannot afford to remain stagnant. The dyad must evolve to include fathers' in-order to provide the services and information they need to parent their children as well as support mothers in the process