Effect of Home Care on Husband’s Support During the Postpartum Period

Abstract

Introduction: The role of Fathers’ involvement and support in the care of mother and child during postpartum is crucial. This support promotes the health of the mother and the family. Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of home care on the husband’s support during the postpartum period. Materials and Methods: This is a clinical trial conducted on 64 women given birth in one of the hospitals in Isfahan, Iran. They were randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control. A researcher-made questionnaire was used for collecting data. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were already evaluated. For analyzing the collected data, descriptive statistics, and independent t-test, Fisher’s exact test, Chi-square test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used considering the significance level of P≤0.05. Results: After receiving home care, the husband’s support in the intervention group (96.74±9.11) was significantly different (P=0.001) from the control group (81.17±14.43). There was also a significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the areas of “confidence in wife”, “listening to her”, “attention to her care needs”, “attention to her financial needs”, “attention to her problems and trying to fix them”, “buying necessary things for her”, “buying gifts for her”, “helping with housekeeping”, and “helping with childcare” after the intervention (P <0.05). Conclusion: Home care program could desirably increase husband’s support leading to a safe postpartum period. Providing home services requires careful planning and proper management by midwives.