title: Prenatal parental education from the perspective of fathers with experience as primary caregiver immediately following birth: a phenomenographic study.
abstract: The aim of this phenomenographic study was to capture fathers' conceptions of parental education topics, illuminated by their experiences as primary caregiver of their child immediately following birth. Fifteen fathers were interviewed between 8 days and 6 weeks after the birth of their child. Three categories, five subcategories, and 12 qualitatively different conceptions emerged from the study's findings. The first category showed that parental education emphasizes the importance of normal birth. The second category illustrated that parental education defuses the issue of complicated births. The third category demonstrated that parental education preserves traditional gender roles. The study's results may facilitate efforts to integrate fathers into parental education toward the aim of achieving parity between mother and father in their role as parents.
authors.affiliation: KERSTIN ERLANDSSON is a senior lecturer in the School of Health Care and Social Welfare at Mälardalen Univeristy in Västerås, Sweden. Her main research interest is to obtain an understanding for fathers' care of their newborn. ELISABET HÄGGSTRÖM-NORDIN is a senior lecturer of midwifery education at Mälardalen University. Her main research interests are within the field of sexuality, gender issues, and young people.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Erlandsson
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Häggström-Nordin