There’s a lot of room for improvement.
A new study published in Pediatrics investigating the link between paternal input and infant outcomes has highlighted the importance of fathers’ roles — but flagged a lot of scope for improvement. Just 16% of dads adhere to the recommended safe sleeping practices for babies when putting their kids down, and many could do far more to support mothers who breastfeed.
Moms spoke up about the need for support
Study co-author Dr. Craig Garfield, a pediatrician at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, explained that the study was inspired by moms’ comments. For more than 35 years, the CDC has sent a Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey to gather information from mothers before, during, and after birth.
“The moms actually started to write in the margins of the survey,” Garfield said per CNN. “The only question they asked (originally in the survey) about dads was: ‘Did your partner hit, kick, beat or slap you during your pregnancy?’”
Dads can play a key role in breastfeeding
Researchers surveyed 250 fathers in Georgia within the first two to six months after the birth of their child. Among fathers who wanted their infant’s mother to breastfeed, “95% reported breastfeeding initiation and 78% reported breastfeeding at (eight) weeks, which is significantly higher than fathers who had no opinion or did not want their infant’s mother to breastfeed, of whom 69% reported breastfeeding initiation and 33% reported breastfeeding at (eight) weeks.” The results indicate that the support new mothers receive from fathers can be key to their success when attempting to breastfeed.
Lead study author Dr. John James Parker, who is a pediatrician and researcher at Northwestern, stressed that breastfeeding is a “team effort,” adding that providers need to explain to new dads how important it is that they take an active role to support efforts like breastfeeding. This could be by ensuring mothers have enough to eat, the time and space to do so, and by taking on other household work.
Safe sleep practices can save a child’s life
The study also found that 99% of fathers had put their babies to sleep, but just 16% adhered to the methods recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
These recommendations include:
- Always place babies to sleep on their backs
- The baby should sleep on a firm, flat surface, with no soft bedding or items like blankets or toys
- Sitting devices, like car seats, strollers, swings, infant carriers, and infant slings, aren’t recommended for routine sleep — especially for infants under four months
There were also important racial disparities in the results, with Black fathers tending to abide less by the guidelines.
“To reduce racial disparities in sudden unexpected infant death, we need tailored strategies to increase safe infant sleep practices in the Black community, including public campaigns to increase awareness and home visiting programs,” Parker said per MedicalXpress. “These interventions must involve both parents to be most effective.”
He noted per CNN that it’s also important to understand the reasons behind such disparities. He suggested that because racial and ethnic minorities tend to have less access to things like paternity leave, it can be more difficult to attend appointments, go to the newborn nursery, or show up at the OB-GYN office.
Supporting men as fathers, and women in the workplace
“We’ve made a lot of progress promoting the importance of women in the workplace,” Parker said per CNN. “And I think to continue that — and for it to be as accessible — we need to have fathers who are equal parents and contributing in many ways at home.”
The U.S. still lags woefully behind other developed countries when it comes to family support. Even mothers don’t receive universal paid parental leave, let alone fathers — and both maternity and paternity leave are critical to success when caring for new babies.
