Coinciding with Multicultural Health Week, Western Sydney University in partnership with the PREPARE Foundation, has developed new research informed video resources designed to support new and expectant fathers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds as they transition into parenthood.
Project lead, Dr Rakime Elmir, Senior Lecturer at the University’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, interviewed 17 CALD fathers from NSW and Queensland about their experiences, revealing that support and services for the unique challenges that CALD dads face is lacking.
The study highlighted that CALD dads feel overwhelming pressure to meet socio-cultural expectations of being the provider, supporter and protector of the family, and that the cost of accessing support and services can be a prohibitive barrier.
Dr Elmir says research has shown that during the perinatal period – the time from pregnancy up until one year following the birth of the baby – both mothers and fathers experience mixed emotions and challenges as they transition to parenthood, with CALD fathers experiencing additional challenges.
“The challenges in the perinatal period can be even greater for fathers from CALD backgrounds, particularly men who are recent migrants or refugees because the social and cultural expectations of fathers differ across cultures. The ability to seek support is influenced by cultural beliefs including understandings of gender roles, faith and religious beliefs, as well as socio-economic status,” said Dr Elmir.
“Research demonstrates that fathers have a significant impact on maternal well-being including pregnancy outcomes such as mode of birth and the child’s physical, mental, behavioural, social and emotional development. It’s important that dads are also supported to ensure positive outcomes for the whole family.”
The study also highlighted that some fathers felt pregnancy, labour and birth was a rite of passage for women to discuss and not a place for fathers to talk about. In some of the cultures, it was viewed as a sign of weakness and taboo for men to express their feelings and emotions when it came to reflecting on birth.
Dr Elmir said many of the fathers expressed feeling excluded from the maternity and health care system that is designed for mother and baby, with one father stating that while there are support systems in place for mothers, they did not know how or where to access support for fathers.
“Our study highlighted a gap in the provision of support services for CALD fathers that we aim to address. When sharing his experience with me, one of the dads said that while he was not expecting someone necessarily to ‘hold his hand’ along the way, at least some steps or guidance on what to expect would have been helpful.”
As a result of the study findings and the need for fathers to connect with other fathers, a small group of dads were invited to share their experiences through a series of video resources created by Dr Elmir in partnership with the PREPARE Foundation.
The video resources cover topics such as traditional fatherhood, the joys and challenges of fatherhood, and advice from health professionals.
Dr Elmir emphasised that fathers can also experience birth trauma too, however the statistics are unknown in terms of how many fathers are impacted.
“Our video resources will help normalise fathers to seek support and speak with health professionals for advice and with other fathers to share their lived experiences, mitigating distress and anxiety in the aftermath of the birth and in their transition to fatherhood,” said Dr Elmir.
“With the rates of postnatal depression in fathers between eight to ten per cent, investing in support for fathers will not only improve father’s health and wellbeing, it will positively impact the father infant bond, their children’s growth and development and also improve the support that mothers receive from their partners.”
For father of two, Kiran Shekar, impending fatherhood was something he was keenly looking forward to, but felt he was not prepared enough.
“With our first child, we unfortunately didn’t have a straightforward childbirth experience. My wife had an emergency caesarean section which made it even more challenging,” he said.
“Especially coming from overseas, we didn’t have much support with our first child as our families were back home in India. It was a difficult experience and you kind of struggle in your own ways, personally and professionally with work to juggle too.
“Men generally are not very vulnerable or open about their struggles as we generally try to be strong and carry on. Hopefully this is starting to change, and encouraging men to open up to fellow fathers going through the same experiences in their own safe space will help.”
