Enhanced Father Involvement: Recommendations and Outcomes From a Community of Practice of Midwives.

Authors

Anna E Seijmonsbergen-Schermers, Lianne Aarntzen, Ank de Jonge, Jens Henrichs

Published in

The Journal of perinatal education. Volume 35. Issue 3-4. Pages 142-154. Oct 01, 2026.

Abstract

This practice initiative aimed (a) to implement strategies encouraging midwives to improve father involvement, (b) to describe its perceived impact, and (c) to gather recommendations for broader implementation. Two communities of practice were formed to exchange insights on father involvement strategies. Midwives implemented various changes and reflected on their impact. Successful strategies comprised simple changes (e.g., addressing both fathers and mothers) and larger organizational changes (e.g., applying work/care distribution discussions). To implement this on a broader scale, midwives formulated recommendations aiming at midwives (e.g., increasing awareness; providing courses) and policy makers (e.g., providing financial compensation for midwives to involve fathers). We demonstrated that (a) minor and major changes can be made to enhance father involvement in midwifery care, (b) a community of practice can enhance awareness on an underrepresented issue, and (c) changes are needed within midwifery and policy to increase awareness and enable father involvement.

PMID:
42967118
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Nov 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.