IMR Press / JOMH / Volume 18 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.31083/jomh.2021.102
Open Access Review
Men's experience of their transition to first-time fatherhood during their partner's pregnancy: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
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1 Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Social Sciences, City University London, EC1V 0HB London, UK
*Correspondence: Lee-Anne.Meleagrou-Hitchens@city.ac.uk (Lee-Anne Meleagrou-Hitchens)
J. Mens. Health 2022, 18(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.31083/jomh.2021.102
Submitted: 13 March 2021 | Accepted: 27 April 2021 | Published: 19 January 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

This was a qualitative study employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to capture the lived experiences and sense-making of seven male participants (aged 29–41), whose partner was in their second or third trimester of pregnancy. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and four superordinate themes emerged during the analysis: (1) Pushed and Pulled in Different Directions, (2) A Rollercoaster of Emotions, (3) A Long and Lonely Road and (4) Anticipating Fatherhood. The prenatal period seemed to constitute a turbulent time in the participants’ lives and involved them experiencing intense, conflicting emotions and psychological states amidst a shifting sense of self, with few support resources available to them. Implications for counselling psychologists are discussed, with suggestions for future research made.

Keywords
Transition to fatherhood
Expectant fathers
Father-to-be
Pregnancy
Prenatal period
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