The experience of fathers during the covid-19 UK maternity care restrictions

OBJECTIVE: During the COVID-19 pandemic fathers in the UK were excluded from many aspects of maternity care to reduce escalating transmission rates. This study explores the experiences of fathers who had a baby during the pandemic to understand what effect these maternity restrictions had on them and their relationship to the baby. DESIGN: A qualitative interview study of the experiences of fathers whose baby was born during the pandemic-related UK maternity restrictions. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Non-probability voluntary response sampling of 20 fathers: including 13 primiparous fathers and 7 multiparous fathers. Eligibility criteria were that fathers lived in the UK and had a baby born on or after the 23(rd) March 2020; the start of the most severe COVID-19 maternity restrictions. Participants were interviewed remotely via telephone using semi-structured interviews which were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: Four themes, including ten sub-themes, were identified that described fathers’ experiences of the maternity restrictions and the father-baby relationship. The themes were: (1) The impact on paternal experience: this theme describes a collective negative paternal maternity experience as a result of the restrictions. Notably, father exclusion produced feelings of isolation and a sense of loss, along with a disconnection from the pregnancy. (2) The impact on the father-baby relationship: this theme discusses the adverse consequence of the restrictions on initial father-baby bonding. (3) Observed impact on mothers: the observed detrimental impact that excluding fathers had on maternal mental health and well-being. Finally, (4) Fatherhood in the ‘new normal’: the change of daily living during the pandemic aided profound family relationship building, improving long-term father-baby bonding, compared to pre-pandemic conditions. KEY CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide evidence of undesirable consequences the pandemic-related UK maternity restrictions had on birth partners. With restrictions to maternity care implemented across the globe, these concerns may be applicable at an international scale. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study adds to other contemporary literature on this subject and can inform discussion among maternity services of the importance of including fathers for improved parental well-being and initial infant bonding.