Effects of Husband Involvement in Prenatal Care on Couples' Intimacy and Postpartum Blues in Primiparous Women: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: Husband involvement in prenatal care is a relatively new concept in Iran. This study aimed to determine the effects of husband involvement in prenatal care on couples' intimacy and postpartum blues in primiparous pregnant women.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 72 primiparous pregnant women with a gestational age of 20-36 weeks in Rafsanjan in 2021 (January to September). After convenience sampling, the participants were assigned to control (N=36) and intervention groups (N=36). Participants in the intervention group were accompanied by their husbands and received routine prenatal care and virtual training. Participants in the control group received routine prenatal care without husband involvement. The Unidimensional Relationship Closeness Scale was completed before the intervention and two weeks after delivery, and the postpartum blues Stein questionnaire was completed one week after delivery. Data were analysed through SPSS V. 22 and using independent two-sample t-test, paired t-test, chi-square, Fisher's exact tests, and Pearson correlation coefficient with a significance level of P<0.05.

Results: The results showed that 5 women (15.20%) in the intervention group and 26 (72.20%) in the control group suffered from postpartum blues after intervention (P<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the mean of couples' intimacy between the two groups after the intervention (P=0.08), but the mean score of change in the couples' intimacy was significantly different across the two groups (P=0.01).

Conclusion: Husband involvement in prenatal care seems to be able to reduce the incidence of postpartum blues but may possibly increase the couples' intimacy. Therefore, it can be suggested that midwives consider husband involvement in prenatal care.