The Impact of Father’s Health on Reproductive and Infant Health and Development

Abstract

The importance of father’s health and health behaviors during the perinatal period is an under-appreciated, but critical, topic for enhancing reproductive and infant health and development, and ultimately men’s own lifetime health. This chapter brings together the existing scattered reproductive fatherhood health literature and articulates a new conceptual framework that identifies eight direct and indirect pathways of potential paternal impact. Three pathways reflect pre-conception to conception influences; paternal planned and wanted pregnancies (family planning); paternal biologic and genetic contributions; and paternal epigenetic contributions. Three pathways reflect father-mother perinatal interactions: paternal reproductive health practices that may alter their partner’s health behaviors and self-care practices; paternal reproductive biologic and social health that may alter their partner’s reproductive health biology; and paternal support for maternal delivery and post-partum care. And two pathways reflect systemic influences: paternal mental health influences; and paternal contributions to the family’s social determinants of health. This chapter pushes back the time frame for the father’s developmental importance for his child into the antenatal period, if not earlier; it encourages more gender equitable parental roles and opportunities; and it provides a stronger scientific knowledge base to support new fatherhood programs, policies and research that encourages father’s more active, healthier and earlier reproductive health involvement.