Becoming a father: representations of fatherhood and care during the postpartum period

Abstract

This article discusses the experience of becoming a father and men's participation in caring for children. We conducted a qualitative exploratory cross-sectional study with 22 men during the postpartum period in a public maternity hospital in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The data were collected using socio-demographic questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework used to analyze the interviews was discursive practices and meanings production analysis, as proposed by Spink and Medrado. Three thematic categories were identified: fatherhood as a divine gift with an inexplicable feeling; becoming a father: reference, responsibility and material provision; and presence as an exercise in fatherhood. The findings reveal the benefits for the father-baby-mother triad of involving men in reproductive planning, from antenatal care to the postpartum period. This study contributes to the debate on the meaning of becoming a father, in dialogue with the National Policy for Comprehensive Men's Health Care (PNAISH).