Functional status of women and their partners after childbirth

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this study is to define the changes within the social dimension of the functional status of women and their partners in the months following the birth of their child. A total of 90 participants were included in the study (45 women and 45 partners). Data were collected in two steps via face-to-face interviews. The first step involved administration of a personal information form and the functional status inventories to the women and their partners between the postpartum sixth and eighth weeks. The second step involved re-administration of the same functional status inventories to the women and their partners in the postpartum sixth month. Results from the examination of the functional status of the women and their partners in the postpartum second and sixth months showed that there was a significant increase in the areas of household activities (p=0,000), social and community activities (p=0,000) and self-care activities (p=0,000) for the women in the sixth month; similarly, for the fathers, household activities (p=0,008), social and community activities (p=0,003) and child care activities (p=0,007) rose in the sixth month. Furthermore, the study found that certain sociodemographic variables had an effect on functional status (p=0,000). It is important that nurses and/or midwives support parents during the pregnancy process, particularly during the transition into their new roles as women and their partners, and help prepare them for the changes to occur as they enter into this new period of life.