Parenthood when does it start

However, these often include women who attend antenatal classes, therefore excluding women from more socio-economically deprived backgrounds, and focus on women not their partners [ 10 ]. Much of the earlier literature used quantitative methods and relied on the assumption that health workers understand parents' needs and experiences [ 10 — 14 ]. The psychological journey has been considered [ 15 , 16 ], experiences of pregnancy have been explored [ 17 , 18 ], antenatal and postnatal interventions have been evaluated [ 19 — 21 ] and parents' educational experiences have been reported [ 22 — 24 ].

The importance of the transition to parenthood on a mother's view of parenting, her parenting skills, her self-esteem and her relationship with her partner are well documented [ 4 , 15 , 25 , 26 ] and has been recognised at a policy level in England and Wales [ 27 — 31 ].

In spite of this, antenatal education continues to focus either on labour and birth and fails to address parents' needs in relation to the reality of new parenthood [ 14 , 32 — 35 ].

Women have few opportunities to gain an understanding of what to expect in the first few weeks after birth and are therefore unprepared for the demands of new motherhood [ 36 — 39 ]. More emotional and informational support for parents both antenatally and postnatally has been a recommendation made by several studies [ 8 , 38 — 40 ]. We are aware of no qualitative study that has asked women and their partners both antenatally, for their prospective views, and postnatally, for their retrospective views, about their educational and care needs in relation to the transition to parenthood.

We hoped that by allowing the women and their partners to describe their own thoughts and views we might develop a richer account of the kinds of support, advice and information they might find helpful in becoming parents and in their parenting skills.

Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the needs of first-time parents in relation to the care, support and education during the antenatal period, particularly in relation to preparing for the transition to parenthood and their parenting skills.

We also sought to identify any different issues for women who were with a stable partner compared to those without. Prior to the study commencing, discussions took place with local midwifery managers and supervisors. They offered their support and welcomed suggestions as to how services for women and their partners could be improved. Information about the project was given to community midwives through professional meetings, via email from their managers and personal communication from the research midwife.

Information about the project was also given to health visitor managers and permission granted to contact individual health visitors with study families on their caseloads. Community midwives in two healthcare provider organisations in South-West England were asked to identify all women on their caseloads who were between 18 and 35 years old, who had an uncomplicated pregnancy, who had not had a previous live baby their own or their partners and who understood English.

The community midwives gave a study information sheet to each eligible woman when they were around 28 weeks gestation and they were asked to discuss it with their partner, if relevant and if he was not present at the time.

An experienced research midwife contacted all those who gave their permission and arranged home interviews in the last trimester of pregnancy, together with the woman's partner, if she had one. Due to caseload pressures, the community midwives were unable to record the details or the number of women who did not want their contact details to be given to the research midwife. Purposive sampling was undertaken to include parents with a range and diversity of needs and views.

The intention was to recruit two groups of women with equal numbers: those with a stable partner and those without, with ten women in each group. The models of care that were available to the women in this study were similar, despite being spread over two different healthcare organisations and several different clinics.

The pattern of antenatal care is similar in all areas and conforms with guidelines in England and Wales [ 31 ]. The woman-centred care commences around 10—12 weeks of pregnancy when they 'book' with their community midwife.

Community midwives work in small groups based at health clinics but women usually see more than one midwife during their pregnancy. Women with uncomplicated pregnancies will continue mainly with midwifery care, whereas others may be placed under consultant obstetric care at the local maternity hospital. Antenatal classes, run by community midwives, are usually offered to couples from around 28 weeks of pregnancy. These generally cover issues such as labour, pain relief, breastfeeding and some aspects of early parenting.

The uptake of these classes varies depending upon the area and sometimes a postnatal reunion session may be offered. Most women give birth in one of the local maternity hospitals and return home within the first or second postnatal day. These short hospital stays mean that many new parents take their new baby home without much practical baby care instruction. On discharge, in line with postnatal guidelines [ 41 ], parents are given contact details for their community midwives.

Depending on the woman's individual requirements, they are visited at home for up to two weeks. Pressures on maternity services over recent years have resulted in a reduction in home visits and many will receive a minimal number of visits at home from a midwife. A health visitor will undertake a new birth visit at home between days 10—14 days and, depending on the individual family, will discuss future contacts, whether in the home or at the clinic.

The research midwife interviewed each woman, and partner if present, twice between December and July , firstly in the last trimester of pregnancy and secondly, at three to four months postnatally. Details about the women and men's age, employment type and ethnicity were recorded.

The semi-structured interviews were carried out using a topic guide, initially based on a review of literature and discussions within the project team. The topic guide was used to gain an understanding of the expectations and views of the women and partners who were going to be parents for the first time. It was used flexibly in response to the direction in which the women and men wanted to take the interview. Antenatal care, sources of support and information are examples of subjects covered in the antenatal interviews Appendix.

The interview guide for the postnatal interview was informed by the themes that emerged from the antenatal interviews. Postnatal interviews included topics relating to the women and their partners' support mechanisms and retrospective views of advice and information they would have found helpful in the antenatal period. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed; anonymity was ensured by allocating interviews unique project numbers. For the antenatal interviews 24 women were interviewed; 20 had partners, three of whom were not present during the antenatal interview.

Recruitment of women without a stable partner was slow and, due to financial constraints, we were unable to extend the recruitment process. On the assumption that there would be some who would not be available for interview postnatally, we continued to recruit women with a stable partner until more than 20 women had been recruited.

By the postnatal interview, two women had moved away and two were unavailable to interview. Therefore, 20 women were re-interviewed between 3—4 months postnatally, one did not have a stable partner and one partner was not present. The interviews lasted an average of about 45 minutes ranging from 25 minutes to one hour 20 minutes. Permission was given to obtain data from the Child Health Data System so that the research midwife knew when each woman had delivered.

The research midwife contacted each family's health visitor prior to arranging a visit to ensure that there were no adverse circumstances that might make it inappropriate to visit.

Each transcript was read through and listened to several times to develop a sense of the content. The data collected were analysed manually using content analysis. Categories were established and themes were developed from these categories [ 42 , 43 ]. Data validation was achieved by feeding the themes back to three of the couples who attended an evening postnatal support group session. In addition, the results were fed back to the community midwives to ascertain whether they felt that the themes reflected the reality of new parenthood in a wider context.

Approval was acquired from the appropriate NHS Trust and University Ethics Committees and research governance issues were approved by the two relevant Healthcare Trusts. Before the interview the research midwife discussed the study, assured confidentiality and ensured that the women and men understood that they could withdraw from the study at any time with no adverse effects on the care that they would receive.

She also asked permission to record the interview and a consent form was signed. The women who were interviewed had a mean age of The partners varied in age from 19 to 37 years old with a mean age of They had a range of socio-economic backgrounds and came from several different geographical areas of the two healthcare organisations. There were also two women who were unemployed and one who was a student. One was also a student, one who was unemployed and another who was on Incapacity Benefit.

We aimed to recruit equal numbers of women who were in a stable relationship and those who said that they were not. However, recruitment of women who were without a partner was very slow and we recruited only four in the time available.

Nevertheless, we found their views were similar to other women in the study and they did not introduce subjects that had not already been raised. The themes that emerged from the antenatal interviews included: types of support received and available to the women and their partners; their views on their preparation for parenthood, the postnatal period and baby care; and the information they received and sources of this information.

Postnatally, issues included some of those above support, information and preparation but in addition, the following were highlighted: breastfeeding and the pressure to do so; parents' relationships and the challenges they had been, and were, going through; and partners' perspectives on their involvement and inclusion in the care his partner had received both antenatally and postnatally.

Parents also expressed feelings such as fear, excitement and joy about becoming parents. These themes will be discussed below, following the transitional process from pregnancy to parenthood, rather than the order of importance.

The partners, however, only mentioned their own partner, their colleagues and health professionals as avenues of support that were open to them. The main area of support that the women expected to, and felt secure in turning to, were female relatives, mainly their mother, but aunts, grandmothers and sisters were also mentioned. My mum She knows not to overstep the line. She's suggesting but she won't ever say. The importance of the woman's mother really stood out.

This was in contrast to the men who occasionally mentioned their own father, mostly in the sense that they wanted to offer their own child a different fathering experience. Everything [things her mum helped her with]. Draw a bottle, tea, cooking, housework, everything. The women valued friends who had been through childbirth recently or who had experience of childcare.

In some instances these were relatively new friends who they had met at their antenatal classes but who had had their babies before them. The sharing of experiences was of paramount importance, in one instance this included the helpfulness of an interactive website. In comparison, the men appeared to lack support networks, some even felt that they had no-one to turn to, apart from their partner and, for some, their work colleagues.

Yes, my colleague's just had a baby, about 6 months old now Others felt they could only turn to health professionals, due to a lack of support from other sources. One father felt very strongly that, because he was employed, he was unable to access any support and therefore felt punished for working. I mean all my sort of friends from school I have lost contact with and I haven't really got any friends, nothing like that, it's basically work.

I felt that, because I worked, I wasn't being allowed to be involved in any of it. I felt punished for working The support received from community health professionals was described as being quite varied but generally more positive than negative. Comments related to the importance of continuity of care, both from the midwife and health visitor, especially because this was often not achieved.

The women also thought that the role of the midwife in the postnatal period should be longer than two weeks due to the trust that had built up antenatally. I felt comfortable and When she left I felt very alone Because she takes all my notes and I didn't have any contact numbers for the health visitor. What do I do in the next week? A relationship with someone, it's trust isn't it? Those families who had received only one home visit from the health visitor, in contrast to frequent midwives' visits, were critical of the small amount of contact.

She just came the once [health visitor] You will have to come up to the surgery. Some of the women had attended antenatal classes. Handbook of parenting: Being and becoming a parent, Vol. New York: Routledge. Cowan, C. When partners become parents: The big life change for couples Rev. Price Askeland, C. Families and change: Coping with stressful events and transitions 5th ed.

Thousand Oaks, Calif. Publications Accessibility. Becoming a parent brings about a series of changes in the life of a person. Preparing for the transition to parenthood includes changes in life roles and taking steps to manage such changes. New or expectant parents and others can prepare for parenthood by considering skills, tasks, experiences and resources that can assist in becoming a parent.

Becoming a Parent. The Role of Parenthood Becoming a parent involves taking on a new role in life. In thinking about the transition to the role of being a parent, explore two key questions: What will you be doing as a parent?

What changes can you expect to occur in your life and relationships? Books Belsky, Jay, and Kelly, John. References Belsky, J. The transition to parenthood. Roy, R. Transition to parenthood. New York: Springer. Filed under: family-parenting. Sofia Todorova, a lawyer living on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, had her first daughter at Crucial to Sofia — who has a masters in human rights law — was the chance to study and develop a career before raising children.

She's also had the chance to go on adventures, learn from her mistakes, and have some fun before settling into motherhood.

I feel I am better emotionally equipped to mother this time around and can bring a richer volume of experience to my daughters' lives. Women who give birth later than the national median age, like Sofia, often use the extra years to develop their careers and finish their studies. One clear benefit of this is that higher levels of education in mothers is consistently associated with positive outcomes in their children's health and education. And research out of The University of Texas have suggested women can delay parenthood until their late 20s or early 30s with no general risk to future health.

Having babies in her 40s has allowed Jaimee, an executive, to establish financial security, own her own home, and bring a level of maturity to her new role.

Readiness feels different for everyone — but personally, Jaimee feels that she's is a better parent for delaying parenthood past her 30s. But there have been drawbacks to having babies on the later side, says Jaimee, who is based in Werribee, Victoria.

Her fitness and energy levels aren't what they were in her 20s, and she's had to step away from her career during her "peak earning years", she says. There is no single right choice.

Ann Davidman is a licensed marriage and family therapist, parenthood clarity mentor , and author. She is the co-author of the book Motherhood — Is It for Me? Men read this book as well and change a few pronouns. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.

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