Investigation of attitudes towards birth attendance, prenatal paternal attachment levels and dyadic adjustment in father candidates who attended and did not attended pregnancy school; A randomized controlled trial

This study was conducted as a randomized controlled trial to examine the attitudes of fathersto-be towards attending birth, prenatal father attachment levels and couple adjustment in those who attended and did not attend pregnancy school. The sample of the study consisted of the spouses of 152 pregnant women who applied to Ankara Etlik City Hospital pregnancy school and pregnancy polyclinics between November 06, 2023 and November 06, 2024. Data were collected using a personal information form, Attitude Scale Towards Birth Attendance (ATPA), Prenatal Father Attachment Scale (PPAAS) and Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (READ). Chi-square test, Fisher's Exact test and independent simple t-test were used in the analysis of data. Paired sample t test was used in the follow-up measurements. The mean age of the father candidates participating in the study was 29.65±4.05, the mean age of their spouses was 26.93±3.98, the mean duration of marriage was 2.59±1.98 and the mean week of pregnancy was 28.46±5.46. There was a significant difference in the negative emotions subdimension of the DKYTS between the intervention and control groups at the first follow-up (p=0.016). The negative emotions sub-dimension score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group. There was a significant difference in the second follow-up DKYTS total score (p=0.011) and the negative emotions sub-dimension total score (p<0.001) between the intervention and control groups. The second follow-up DKYTS total score and the negative emotions sub-dimension total score of the intervention group were significantly higher than the control group. In the study, there was a significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the third follow-up DKYTS total score (p<0.001), negative emotions (p<0.001), and actions sub-dimension total score (p=0.003). The intervention group's third follow-up DKYTS total score, negative emotions and actions sub-dimension total score were significantly higher than the control group. In the study, there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups' DKYTS total score and the time spent on attachment and the quality of attachment sub-dimensions in the first, second and third follow-ups (p>0.05 There was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in terms of the total score of the CAS and the satisfaction, agreement and consensus sub-dimensions at the first, second and third follow-ups (p>0.05). As a result of the study, the attitudes of fathers-to-be who attended the pregnancy school towards attending the birth were determined to be negative, and no difference was observed in the level of prenatal father attachment and couple harmony. At this point, the content of the pregnancy school program should be strengthened and multi-faceted planning of trainings for fathers-to-be should be ensured. Key Words: Birth attendance; couple harmony; father-baby bonding; midwifery; pregnancy school.