Functional Status of Women and Their Partners after Childbirth

The aim of this study is to define the changes within the socialdimension of the functional status of women and their partners in the monthsfollowing the birth of their child. A total of 90 participants were included inthe study (45 women and 45 partners). Data were collected in two steps viaface-to-face interviews. The first step involved administration of a personalinformation form and the functional status inventories to the women and theirpartners between the postpartum sixth and eighth weeks. The second stepinvolved re-administration of the same functional status inventories to thewomen and their partners in the postpartum sixth month. Results from theexamination of the functional status of the women and their partners in thepostpartum second and sixth months showed that there was a significantincrease in the areas of household activities (p=0,000), social and communityactivities (p=0,000) and self-care activities (p=0,000) for the women in thesixth month; similarly, for the fathers, household activities (p=0,008), socialand community activities (p=0,003) and child care activities (p=0,007) rosein the sixth month. Furthermore, the study found that certainsociodemographic variables had an effect on functional status (p=0,000). Itis important that nurses and/or midwives support parents during thepregnancy process, particularly during the transition into their new roles aswomen and their partners, and help prepare them for the changes to occur asthey enter into this new period of life.