The occurrence of peak-experience at childbirth: fathers' perceptions

With increasing emphasis in nursing being placed on implementing family-centered maternity care, nurses and nurse-midwives find a greater need for knowledge regarding the father's psychological status at childbirth. A descriptive study was a conducted to answer the questions: (1) how do new father perceive their psychological status immediately following the birth of their first child? (2) To what extent does peak-experience occur in the sample of new father? (3) What variables significantly correlate with a father's perception of peak-experience at childbirth? Within 24 hours after delivery, 88 first-time fathers completed a questionnaire eliciting their feelings, relative to the labor and delivery experience. The questionnaire consisted of four instruments designed by the researcher and Kaye based on the concepts of Maslow (1962, 1964, 1968, and 1970) and Tanzer. These were "Instrument #1-Labor and Delivery Information" (LDI), "Instrument #2-General Information" (GI), "Instrument #3-Inventory of Childbirth Perceptions" (ICP), and "Instrument #4-Peak-Experience Indicator" (P-EI). Subjects were in the middle socio-economic class. They experienced childbirth as six hospitals providing family-centered maternity care in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah between June 1976 and October 1976. Over 90% of the fathers were present in the delivery room. The majority had vivid memory of the situation during childbirth and awareness of the childbirth experience. The control the father felt they maintained corresponded closely to the importance they placed on the need for control. The majority preferred to be active members of the childbirth team. However, and active role was experienced by less than half of the fathers. The extent of occurrence of peak-experience in this sample of first-time fathers was ± 36%. The reported intensity of emotions in the three time periods of labor, pushing, and delivery shows that peak-experience occurred at the time of delivery. Peak-experience occurred more frequently in fathers who attended childbirth classes and in those who availed themselves of other sources of preparations. Fathers who viewed themselves as activity members of the childbirth team more frequently reported a peak-experience. Peak-experience was also dependent upon how fathers felt about assistance received from nursing and medical personnel. Childbirth was though to be easier as assistance improved and as the attitude of personnel was felt to be more supportive. Attitude of personnel was significantly related to peak-experience, as was the perception of lessened difficulty of childbirth. With improved understanding, fathers perceived childbirth as easier. Those fathers reporting peak-experience also gave a more positive description of the mother. The five-minute Aggar score showed a positive relationship to peak-experience. Peak-experience in fathers occurred less frequently as numbers of analgesics increased. Increased peak-experience was associated with either no anesthesia or local infiltration used at delivery. Regional block anesthesia was associated with fewer peak-experiences. In conclusion, 36% of 88 fathers in this study realized a peak-experience at the time of birth of their first child. This phenomenon showed significant positive relationships to preparation for childbirth, and to nursing and medical care provided during labor and delivery. The incidence of peak-experience diminished as the amount of medications in labor and delivery increased.