Peer-reviewed article
Father involvement, maternal depression and child nutritional outcomes in Soweto, South Africa
Roisin E. Drysdale, Wiedaad Slemming, Tawanda Makusha, Linda Richter ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether involving fathers in pregnancy and postnatal care improves child nutrition and maternal mental health in Soweto, South Africa. Among 212 mother-baby pairs, fathers had very low attendance at antenatal appointments and births. The researchers found that postnatal father involvement was associated with reduced maternal depression, but did not directly improve exclusive breastfeeding rates or birth weight. The study suggests that while father involvement helps maternal mental health, additional guidance is needed for men to effectively support mothers.
Key points
- Father involvement was very low: only 43% attended early ultrasound, 33% attended antenatal care, and 1% attended birth
- Postnatal father involvement was directly associated with reduced postnatal depression in mothers
- Father involvement did not directly or indirectly impact exclusive breastfeeding or low birth weight outcomes
- 29% of mothers showed signs of depression during pregnancy, decreasing to 7% after birth
- 57% of mothers reported exclusively breastfeeding at 6 weeks postnatally
Limitations
The study measures associations rather than causal effects of father involvement, and the cross-sectional nature of measurements at 6 weeks postnatally limits understanding of longer-term impacts. The study cannot explain why father involvement did not improve feeding or birth weight outcomes despite improving maternal mental health.
Abstract
Father involvement in South Africa is low, despite evidence that it can improve maternal and child health and wellbeing. Within a larger randomised controlled trial, we assessed whether father involvement during and after pregnancy increased birth weight and exclusive breastfeeding through improved maternal mental health. At 6-week postnatal, mothers completed questionnaires on birth, feeding practices, social support, father involvement and postnatal depression. Father involvement during pregnancy was measured by their attendance at antenatal care and the study intervention, whereas postnatal involvement was measured by attendance at antenatal care and type of paternal support provided. Structural equation modelling was used to identify associations between father involvement, maternal depression, low birth weight and exclusive breastfeeding. Among the 212 mother-baby pairs, father involvement was very low with only 43%, 33% and 1% of partners attending early ultrasound, antenatal care and the birth of the child, respectively. Twenty-nine percent of the mothers showed signs of depression during pregnancy, compared with 7% after birth. Eighteen percent of the infants were born low birth weight, and 57% of mothers reported exclusively breastfeeding at 6 weeks. Father involvement was directly associated with postnatal depression, but it did not directly or indirectly impact exclusive breastfeeding or low birth weight. We conclude that postnatal father involvement can improve postnatal maternal depression and that men would benefit from specific guidance on how they can support mothers during and after pregnancy.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Problem
Low birth weight, low rates of exclusive breastfeeding, and high maternal depression in South Africa
- Intervention
- Encouraging father involvement during pregnancy and after birth through attendance at antenatal care and provision of paternal support
- Population
- 212 mother-baby pairs in Soweto, South Africa, within a larger randomised controlled trial
Key finding
Postnatal father involvement was directly associated with reduced postnatal depression (statistically significant association found)