The Family Initiative has been tracking and reporting on research on fathers in neonatal care since 2015 on FamilyIncluded.com. It became apparent that some interesting and new ideas were emerging in newly published articles. In response to this, the Family Initiative approached all the authors and proposed a joint effort to report on all the new evidence.
We have since published an article in the Journal of Neonatal Nursing - Fathers in neonatal units: Improving infant health by supporting the baby-father bond and mother-father co-parenting.
This discusses the findings from 50 pieces of research in recent years on fathers in neonatal units.
The principle finding is that understanding and supporting father-infant attachment and supporting co-parenting improves the health of the baby and helps both parents to care for the baby and for each other.
RESEARCH REVIEW
FATHERS ENGAGING
IN MATERNAL & NEWBORN HEALTH
OUR WORK
Fatherhood Programme
For health authorities to improve outcomes through the focused engagement of fathers.
CPD Accredited Training
For health professionals on how father engagement improves outcomes, accredited by Royal College of Midwives.
Family Included
New global research on 'family inclusive' maternal and newborn health care. Search by topic and subscribe.
Fathers are critical in supporting and delivering health outcomes for mothers and babies, during pregnancy, birth and infancy.
We believe the only sustainable approach to fathers engaging in maternal and newborn health is if they lead the way to overcome barriers in local cultures and health services,
building on their caring instincts and motivations.
Neonataldads
We are developing father-led approaches in neonatal care.
"“When I first saw M., it was magic, a miracle! I was all alone in the bloc.”
"I don’t want to be weak in front of my wife. I don’t think she knows how bad I am hurting right now."
Breastfeeding
For three years we have monitored and reported on research on father support for breastfeeding, and we have written a White Paper on what research says for practice.
We are now developing father led approaches to improve breastfeeding rates.
