This qualitative study explored how the transition into fatherhood affects men's mental health and emotional or social well-being during the perinatal period. It sought to understand fathers' experiences and support needs and to capture professionals' views (from VCSE and social care services) about how maternity, healthcare and social care services respond to fathers. The work aimed to identify barriers to engagement and potential approaches to better meet paternal perinatal support needs.
Researchers used in-depth semistructured interviews and focus groups to collect qualitative data. Participants were resident within North East England and North Cumbria (NENC) and included representatives from voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations and social care services that work with families, children and perinatal mental health within the region.
A total of 30 people contributed data: 21 fathers and nine professionals from VCSE and social care sectors. The recruitment focused on those associating with supporting families and children and perinatal mental health in the NENC area. No further demographic or clinical characteristics of participants were reported in the source.
Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. This approach generated themes from participants’ accounts to characterise common experiences, perceived gaps in support, and professionals’ perspectives on service-level responses to fathers during the perinatal period.
Reflexive thematic analysis of the 30 participant accounts identified two primary themes and five subthemes. The two overarching themes were:
“The Pregnant and Postnatal Man”
“Removing the cloak of fatherhood invisibility”
Both themes centred on fathers’ experiences of isolation and the limited availability of emotional and mental health support during the parenting transition. Participants described feeling excluded or marginalised within existing perinatal services and antenatal education, and they reported restricted opportunities to access support for emotional needs.
The thematic structure emphasises several consistent points reported by fathers and professionals:
Fathers commonly experience loneliness and a sense of being sidelined during pregnancy and the postnatal period.
Existing perinatal services, including maternity and allied health and social care, frequently do not provide tailored emotional support or actively include fathers in routines of care and education.
Professionals working in VCSE and social care recognise these gaps and the potential negative consequences for family dynamics when fathers’ emotional needs are not addressed.
The invisibility of fathers within service provision contributes to an under-recognition of paternal mental health needs.
Participants saw value in creating avenues for fathers to feel acknowledged and supported during the perinatal journey.
The source did not report further detail on the five subthemes beyond their role in illustrating isolation and limited emotional support, nor did it provide verbatim subtheme labels beyond those summary headings.
Participants suggested that greater father inclusion across perinatal services, policies and antenatal education could help fathers feel more recognised and supported throughout pregnancy and after birth. The study highlights the potential benefit of shifting toward a whole family emotional support model within perinatal practice. Such an approach, as described by participants, would explicitly acknowledge fathers’ emotional well-being alongside that of partners and infants, with the intent of supporting healthier family transitions and dynamics.
The source article does not list specific programmatic interventions, implementation strategies, or evaluated service models. Instead, it reports participant perspectives that increased recognition and active inclusion of fathers in perinatal care and education are important steps.
The study concludes that fathers in the NENC region experience isolation and limited emotional and mental health support during the perinatal period. Both fathers and professionals identified the need for improved inclusion of fathers within perinatal services, antenatal education and policy. Adopting a whole family emotional support approach was seen as important to recognising fathers’ emotional well-being and to supporting positive transitions for the entire family. The source did not provide quantitative outcomes, intervention details, or implementation guidance; it presented qualitative evidence from participants’ accounts to underpin the recommendations.