title: Experiences of fathers shortly after the birth of their preterm infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the experiences of fathers shortly after the birth of their preterm infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A focused ethnography conducted over 33 months (2003–2006) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a large U.K. National Health Trust (NHS) teaching hospital. Data were collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews with fathers (n = 10), and an ethnographic survey distributed to NICU staff (n = 87). Practices and relationships with fathers were concurrently analyzed thematically through the conceptual perspective of emotion work.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fathers' emotional reactions to their experiences were described in three themes: emotional withdrawal and control, stereotyping, and mixed feelings. Fathers' emotional behaviors were governed by complex, culturally determined conventions and expectations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fathers engaged in considerable effort to manage their emotions as they attempted to reconcile the tension between what they wanted to feel and what they thought others expected them to feel. The results of this study support the view that focusing on emotional externalities alone tends to underplay the amount of emotion work carried out by less expressive individuals; this "silent emotion work" was characteristic of the fathers in this study.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hugill
authors.forename: Gayle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Letherby
authors.forename: Tilly
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lavender
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D004644:Emotions; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D047928:Premature Birth; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom