title: A community perspective on the role of fathers during pregnancy: a qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Defining male involvement during pregnancy is essential for the development of future research and appropriate interventions to optimize services aiming to improve birth outcomes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To define male involvement during pregnancy and obtain community-based recommendations for interventions to improve male involvement during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted focus groups with mothers and fathers from the National Healthy Start Association program in order to obtain detailed descriptions of male involvement activities, benefits, barriers, and proposed solutions for increasing male involvement during pregnancy. The majority of participants were African American parents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The involved "male" was identified as either the biological father, or, the current male partner of the pregnant woman. Both men and women described the ideal, involved father or male partner as present, accessible, available, understanding, willing to learn about the pregnancy process and eager to provide emotional, physical and financial support to the woman carrying the child. Women emphasized a sense of "togetherness" during the pregnancy. Suggestions included creating male-targeted prenatal programs, enhancing current interventions targeting females, and increasing healthcare providers' awareness of the importance of men's involvement during pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individual, family, community, societal and policy factors play a role in barring or diminishing the involvement of fathers during pregnancy. Future research and interventions should target these factors and their interaction in order to increase fathers' involvement and thereby improve pregnancy outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. amina_alio@urmc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Amina P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Alio
authors.forename: Cindi A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Scarborough
authors.forename: Kenn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fiscella
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D005220:Fathers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D036301:Qualitative Research