Fatherhood: The Fathers’ Experiences from Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery, and Family Beginning

A typical family consists of a father, a mother, and their child. Fathers are defined as the provider for the family while on the other hand mothers are the ones who were given the responsibility of taking care of their children. Being the provider means their bond with their children should come from effort and involvement from pregnancy to childbirth and the beginning of the family. This scenario became a challenge because the expectation towards them and their involvement was minimal, and there were too few or no existing programs for fathers. This study sought to find out the father's experiences during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and family beginning. This study followed an explanatory sequential design where quantitative results were followed by qualitative data. The results helped identify fathers' status when it comes to being prepared for the family beginning. Programs can be improved and integrated to have the active engagement of fathers in pregnancy and family beginning. With this, the results would be beneficial to the healthcare community. Results reveal that fathers provided consistent support regardless of age, income, employment status, educational attainment, and civil status. However, younger respondents tend to take on more responsibility and financial support. Financial expenses might have been a barrier to fathers' financial capability, but they thrived to meet expenses and needs. This study recommends that this will be fully utilized in terms of clinical facilities for integrating paternal programs. The local health sector may consider having birthing classes and seminars for parents, especially fathers, as part of their program. Health teachings among fathers must include what to expect during pregnancy to further educate them with the correct information and practices. Future researchers may utilize the results of data for a more comprehensive qualitative approach that may broaden the scale of the research in terms of broader proximity of locale and respondents furthermore budgeting may be introduced to fathers to help them prepare for maternal expenses.