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Father involvement, maternal depression and child nutritional outcomes in Soweto, South Africa.
- Source :
- Maternal & Child Nutrition; Jul2021 Supplement S1, Vol. 17, p1-12, 12p
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Father involvement in South Africa is low, despite evidence that it can improve maternal and child health and wellbeing. Within a larger randomised controlled trial, we assessed whether father involvement during and after pregnancy increased birth weight and exclusive breastfeeding through improved maternal mental health. At 6‐week postnatal, mothers completed questionnaires on birth, feeding practices, social support, father involvement and postnatal depression. Father involvement during pregnancy was measured by their attendance at antenatal care and the study intervention, whereas postnatal involvement was measured by attendance at antenatal care and type of paternal support provided. Structural equation modelling was used to identify associations between father involvement, maternal depression, low birth weight and exclusive breastfeeding. Among the 212 mother–baby pairs, father involvement was very low with only 43%, 33% and 1% of partners attending early ultrasound, antenatal care and the birth of the child, respectively. Twenty‐nine percent of the mothers showed signs of depression during pregnancy, compared with 7% after birth. Eighteen percent of the infants were born low birth weight, and 57% of mothers reported exclusively breastfeeding at 6 weeks. Father involvement was directly associated with postnatal depression, but it did not directly or indirectly impact exclusive breastfeeding or low birth weight. We conclude that postnatal father involvement can improve postnatal maternal depression and that men would benefit from specific guidance on how they can support mothers during and after pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- POSTPARTUM depression
STRUCTURAL equation modeling
WELL-being
CHILD nutrition
SOCIAL support
CONFIDENCE intervals
CHILD development
REGRESSION analysis
PREGNANT women
MENTAL health
PARENTING
MOTHERHOOD
TREATMENT effectiveness
INFANT nutrition
CHILD health services
BIRTH weight
BREASTFEEDING
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
RESEARCH funding
PRENATAL care
POSTNATAL care
METROPOLITAN areas
DATA analysis software
FATHER-child relationship
EDINBURGH Postnatal Depression Scale
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17408695
- Volume :
- 17
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Maternal & Child Nutrition
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 151329371
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13177