[Fathers' presence at deliveries in Denmark.].
In a sub-study under the research program Fathers' Relation to Their Infants, an investigation was conducted on fathers and delivery in Denmark. The fathers were present in 88.1% of all deliveries (N=698). For the most of the remaining 11.9% the reasons for not participating seem related to either an Islamic background (6%), special circumstances at the delivery, or the woman being single. The fathers stated in answers to a questionnaire before delivery (N=165) that they wanted to be present for their own sake and not only to support their partners, and to another questionnaire after delivery (N=116) that they were happy to have been there (98%). 87.5% of the fathers participated in prophylactic consultations. Almost all of them found it beneficial. Two-thirds felt personally welcome but 54% did not feel directly invited and 40% did not experience that they were directly addressed to by the midwives during the consultations. The results point to the need for changes in routines in hospitals in accordance with the actual wishes in families of today.
Madsen
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Munck
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