title: Fathers' birth experience in relation to midwifery care.
abstract: The aim was to identify the proportion of fathers having a positive experience of a normal birth and to explore factors related to midwifery care that were associated with a positive experience.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Research has mainly focused on the father's supportive role during childbirth rather than his personal experiences of birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  595 new fathers living in a northern part of Sweden, whose partner had a normal birth, were included in the study. Data was collected by questionnaires. Odds Ratios with 95% confidence interval and logistic regression analysis were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of fathers (82%) reported a positive birth experience. The strongest factors associated with a positive birth experience were midwife support (OR 4.0; 95 CI 2.0-8.1), the midwife's ongoing presence in the delivery room (OR 2.0; 1.1-3.9), and information about the progress of labour (OR 3.1; 1.6-5.8).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most fathers had a positive birth experience. Midwifery support, the midwife's presence and sufficient information about the progress of labour are important aspects in a father's positive birth experience. The role of the midwife during birth is important to the father, and his individual needs should be considered in order to enhance a positive birth experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden. Ingegerd.hildingsson@miun.se
authors.forename: Ingegerd
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hildingsson
authors.forename: Linnea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cederlöf
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Widén
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003696:Delivery Rooms; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008880:Midwifery; D016017:Odds Ratio; D036801:Parturition; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult