The impact of maternal postnatal depression on men and their ways of fathering: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

Men felt that their partner's depression led to significant physical and/or psychological maternal absence as well as a fracturing of the family unit, which had been an important ideological foundation for men's fathering. Unequal divisions of labour, unfulfilled expectations, a thwarting of preferred ways of fathering and preoccupation with their partner's depression took some men away from fathering. Others reported adaptation by accepting the loss of shared parenting and investing in an exclusive father-child relationship. Fathering appears to be particularly affected by the loss of a close adult relationship.