title: Fathers' Feelings and Experience Related to their Wife/Partner's Delivery in Northern Greece.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aims at exploring the feelings and the experience of fathers about their wife/partner's delivery.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  During the last decades birth attendance by fathers is a common phenomenon across many countries. Fathers' birth attendance may evoke both positive and negative feelings.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in a city of Northern Greece. The sample consisted of 417 fathers whose wife/partner had given birth during the previous one week to one year. Data were collected using the Kuopio Instrument for Fathers (KIF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Father's feelings about their wife or partner were very positive as nearly all (82.1%) of the participants were proud to become fathers and agree that they felt love and were grateful to their wife/partner. However, half of the fathers felt anxious and nervous. 40.7% quite agree that the staff was very professional, that they trusted the staff (45%) and that they were grateful to the staff (38.8%). There is correlation between the "feelings related to the wife/partner" and education (r=0.156, p=0.0047), "being afraid during the preparatory visit at the obstetric hospital" (r=-0.238, p=0.009), and "anxiety during the preparatory visit" (r=0.295 p=0.005). The subscale "feelings related to the environment and staff" correlates with "usefulness of preparatory visit" (r=-0.223, p=0.004) and the subscale of "experiences related to delivery" correlates with "usefulness of preparatory visit" (r=-0.357, p=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support the findings of previous studies, which indicated that birth attendance by fathers has evoked positive feelings about their wife/partner, the delivery, the staff and the hospital environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Despina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sapountzi-Krepia
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavdaniti
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimitriadou
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Psychogiou
authors.forename: Markos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sgantzos
authors.forename: Hong-Gu
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Eythimios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Faros
authors.forename: Katri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vehviläinen-Julkunen