[Involvement of men in parenthood].
The role of men in the care of their own and their partners' reproductive health and connected with it their participation in common family planning was noticed not long ago. In recent years the knowledge about a positive father's influence on child's growth has considerably increased. It has been proved that during pregnancy fathers parental role is already determined. The aim of the study was assessment of men's involvement in problems associated with parenthood. The investigations were carried out in Lublin and Brussels in the period from July to November 1999. They comprised 191 men, including 110 from Poland and 81 from Belgium. Participants were selected in a completely random manner. The investigations were performed by means of diagnostic survey with the use of questionnaire technique. To solve research problems of this paper own research tools were used which allowed to collect information concerning the subject of the study. Collected material was statistically analyzed and analytically described. Significance of differences between investigated characteristics was checked with chi 2 test. Analysis of study results indicates that: 1. Most men are not of the opinion that only a woman should protect herself against unplanned conception (81.5% Belgians and 50.0% Poles). 2. Belgian men much more frequently get involved in gaining experiences connected with pregnancy and child's growth by the presence during wife's talks with the doctor in charge of pregnancy, participation in delivery school's classes, presence during USG examinations, participation during labor (differences between study groups proved statistically significant p < 0.001). 3. Despite the fact that most men (98.8% from Belgium and 57.3% from Poland) showed positive attitude to family deliveries in hospital claiming that husband should accompany his wife during labor only one third of respondents from Poland (29.1%) took part in them while almost all Belgians (95.1%) actively confirmed their declaration.
Samodzielnej Pracowni Umiejetności Połozniczych, Akademii Medycznej w Lublinie.
Agnieszka M
AM
Bień
Grazyna J
GJ
Iwanowicz-Palus
Grazyna
G
Stadnicka
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D011044:Poland; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires