First-time fathers' health status during the perinatal period.

BACKGROUND: For first-time fathers, the perinatal period is a critical period of stress and imbalance. Marital intimacy and social support may affect their stress and health status while they change their roles.

AIM: This study was to explore the changes of and correlations among marital intimacy, social support, and health status and predictors of first-time fathers' health status during the perinatal period.

METHODS: With a repeated measures study design, a total of 217 first-time fathers whose spouses were in the third trimester of pregnancy were recruited for the study. The Chinese Health Questionnaire, Marital Intimacy Scale, and Social Support Scale were employed to collect data at a medical center in the 36th week of pregnancy and the 1st and 4th weeks after childbirth.

RESULTS: The levels of marital intimacy and social support of first-time fathers during the perinatal period increased significantly with time. Meanwhile, the period of the first week after childbirth was a predictor of first-time father's health status.

CONCLUSIONS: This study only tracked the first-time fathers' health status in the 36th week of pregnancy and the 1st and 4th weeks after childbirth. Future studies could track them until one year after childbirth in order to explore the impact of the perinatal period on the couples and their babies. During the perinatal period, health care providers shall assess and provide needed interventions to first-time fathers as soon as possible to facilitate the first-time fathers to get ready for the role transition and to promote their health status.