Högskolan i Skövde

Background: Research shows that first-time fathers want to take part in preparation for birth and parenthood but they describe being excluded by health professionals. Aim: The aim of this study was to illustrate first-time fathers’ experiences of support from midwives in maternity clinics as a step in the validation of “The Father Perceived-Professional-Support” (The FaPPS) scale. Methods: A qualitative content analysis with an inductive and deductive approach was used; seven first-time fathers were strategically selected and interviewed. In the inductive part the following open question was asked: “How did you perceive the support from the antenatal midwife/midwives?” In the deductive part, the fathers were asked to respond to the FaPPS scale, in order to receive their thoughts and understanding of the scale, inspired by the “Think-aloud” method. Findings. The inductive results showed two main categories: Experience of not knowing what support they needed and Experience of being excluded. The fathers found support from other fathers in parental education classes, but they lack time to discuss. Overall it seems as if the fathers answered both from their own perspective and from the mothers’ perspective. This was not evident in the deductive results. The FaPPs scale should therefore include professionals’ ability to strengthen social support from other first-time fathers and professionals’ ability to offer support to the mother. Conclusion and Clinical Implications. The fathers experienced exclusion both by themselves and also by midwives. Midwives should offer both parents the opportunity to pose questions. It is important for expectant fathers that time for discussion is planned in parental education classes. The FaPPS scale is useful but needs further development. Parts of our result are in line with earlier research, for decades; therefore it is necessary to focus more on support for fathers.

Abstract. Discrepancies in perceived parenting and parental roles across European countries could be due to the use of different assessment techniques or due to mean level differences in the authoritative, authoritarian, or permissive parenting styles. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ; Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart, 1995, 2001) in a sample of 225 Greek, 301 Italian, and 279 Swedish adolescents aged 16?19 years, who evaluated their father?s and mother?s parenting styles during their childhood. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), multigroup CFA, and modified version of the correlated uniqueness model were used to evaluate the structure and invariance of the scale across countries. Measurement and structural invariance was found in the 8-item authoritative scale and 6-item authoritarian scale. A mixed ANOVA (Country ? Style ? Role) showed that Swedish mothers scored lower than Italian or Greek mothers, and that, in the three countries, mothers were perceived as more authoritative than were fathers.

We studied the experience of professional support among first-time mothers in relation to a scale measuring professional support in maternity care. We used a qualitative study with both an inductive and deductive approach and interviewed nine mothers. Our findings, both inductive and deductive, suggest that first-time mothers expect professional support in their transition into motherhood, building a bridge between two worlds. The first meeting, acknowledging individual needs, and supporting partner participation were important for good support. Maternity care should be organized with a focus on availability and professional support for mothers and the increased participation of their partners. Our scale of measurement can be useful but needs some development.

Comparative research on parenting styles among Nordic and Mediterranean countries is still missing, despite the increasing number of studies on parenting styles in adolescence. This study explores similarities and differences in adolescents’ retrospective perceptions of parenting styles, for both parents, in Sweden, Italy and Greece, using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire. In particular, it examines the relation between parental role, adolescent gender, country of origin, SES and these perceptions. Swedish, Italian and Greek adolescents (N = 702; 30.9% Swedish, 39.6% Italian and 29.5% Greek) participated in the study. To test the principal effects three mixed 2(parent; mother and father)*2(gender; girl and boy)*3(countries; Sweden, Italy and Greece)*3(SES; low, medium and high) ANOVAs were conducted separately for each parenting style. To verify the interaction effects, a mixed 2(parent; mother and father)*3(countries; Sweden, Italy and Greece)*3(SES; low, medium and high) ANOVA was tested on authoritative style. Regarding authoritarian and permissive two mixed 2(parent; mother and father)*2(gender; girl and boy)*3(countries; Sweden, Italy and Greece) ANOVAs were tested. Mothers, as compared to fathers, were perceived as more authoritative, authoritarian and permissive. Moreover, boys perceived their parents as more authoritarian and more permissive than girls. Swedish parents were perceived as significantly less authoritarian than Italian and Greek parents and more permissive than Italian parents; Greek parents were perceived as less authoritarian and more permissive than Italian parents. The study provides an interesting contribution to parenting styles literature, showing how country legislation concerning family matters and SES are related the perception of parenting behaviours.

Background: Pregnancy can be physically and emotionally stressful for the parents, which means they need adequate professional support. Easy-to-use, validated scales are important in order to develop professional support in Antenatal care as well as in research.

The aim: Our aim was to illuminate pregnant women’s experience of professional support at the Antenatal care, in relation to the Mother-Perceived-Professionals-Support (MoPPS) scale.

Method: A qualitative study design using the method “Think aloud” with both inductive and deductive approaches, was used. Five first-time mothers were interviewed with open questions followed by questions related to the MoPPS scale items. Data was analyzed using inductive and deductive qualitative content analyses.

Results: The inductive analysis resulted in one theme: “Professional support from midwives made women created a feeling of security and unique or rejected and lonely during pregnancy” and three categories: “Continuity and competence”, “Perceiving trust or not” and “Parental groups or individual visits”. The deductive analysis described the mothers’ understanding of each item. However, coherence between the inductive and deductive analyses varied and the MoPPS-scale needs development.

Conclusion: The result shows that women's experience of professional support affects their sense of feeling safe or lonely during pregnancy. Important for midwives were to meet the women’s unique individual needs. The MoPPS scale was considered to be relevant and easy to understand, but it needs development to include questions about continuity, parental groups and the perception of midwives’ competence, which all were important for the women during their pregnancies.

Clinical implications: To offer adequate professional support for women during pregnancy, midwives need to meet the women’s unique individual needs with both medical and supportive knowledge.

Objectives. The objective of this study was to describe first-time mothers’ experiences and reflections of their first birth. Study Design. This study is a part of a larger study which was carried out in southwestern Sweden in 2008. A qualitative method with content analysis was chosen for this study. The unit of data was 14 written narratives from the first-time mothers. Results. The theme “To be empowered increases first-time mothers’ chances for a positive birth experience” crossed over into all the three categories: “To trust the body and to face the pain,” “Interaction between body and mind in giving birth,” and “Consistency of support.” Conclusion. In order to feel confident in their first childbirth, the women wanted to be confirmed and seen as unique individuals by the professionals and their partner. If professionals responded to the individual woman’s needs of support, the woman more often had a positive birth experience, even if the birth was protracted or with medical complications.