How involved are men in the birth and child-rearing process? Researchers in Spain recently completed a study published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing in an attempt to answer that question. The study was completed at the Andalusian School of Public Health.
Researchers gave 357 participants a questionnaire. The study pool was made up of 150 men and 157 women. All participants had parented at least one child (biological) and the child must have been between two months and three years of age.
Results: Few men who filled out the questionnaire attended childbirth classes with their partners, but most did attend physician appointments and the birth. Women played a more important role (via time spent with children) in the process of raising the child after birth. Social change is required to balance the male/female roles in parenting as perceptions of parenthood tend to fall on the female as the major child-rearing parent.
Source: Maroto-Navarro G, Pastor-Moreno G, Ocaña-Riola R, Benítez-Hidalgo V, García-Calvente MD, Gutiérrez-Cuadra MD, Gijón-Sánchez MT, Río-Lozano MD, Marcos-Marcos J. Male and female involvement in the birth and child-rearing process. J Clin Nurs. 2013 Sep 6. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12153.
