“Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work
There is increasing research interest in the experiences of new fathers taking paternity leave, but less insight into men’s experiences of returning to work after the birth of their first baby. For many men in the UK context, this could take place immediately after the birth or after one or two week...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/9/1352 |
| _version_ | 1797602582312517632 |
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| author | Suzanne Hodgson Jon Painter Laura Kilby Julia Hirst |
| author_facet | Suzanne Hodgson Jon Painter Laura Kilby Julia Hirst |
| author_sort | Suzanne Hodgson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is increasing research interest in the experiences of new fathers taking paternity leave, but less insight into men’s experiences of returning to work after the birth of their first baby. For many men in the UK context, this could take place immediately after the birth or after one or two weeks of paternity leave. This paper utilizes data from a UK-based study whilst also drawing on international literature and policy contexts. A constructivist grounded theory method was adopted to generate theory from the data gathered. Twelve new fathers shared their experiences in this study by participating in audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews. This paper focuses on fathers’ experiences of negotiating the workplace as part of an overall theoretical framework related to broader transitions to fatherhood and sheds light on the distress, guilt and psychological challenges that the participants experienced when they initially returned to work. Whether fathers did or did not explicitly describe distress at this time, they all described a change in their worker identity, which for some participants led to uncertainty in the workplace. Men returning to work at this time in the postnatal period are vulnerable to experiencing distress. Flexibility and support in the workplace could be protective of their mental health. Finally, policy and practice developments are offered to support men’s transitions to fatherhood in the workplace context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:18:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d556dd17a7874e70815ab06679eaaf45 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:18:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-d556dd17a7874e70815ab06679eaaf452023-11-17T22:58:47ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322023-05-01119135210.3390/healthcare11091352“Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to WorkSuzanne Hodgson0Jon Painter1Laura Kilby2Julia Hirst3Department of Nursing, Manukau Institute of Technology—Te Pūkenga, Manukau, Auckland 2104, New ZealandDepartment of Nursing and Midwifery, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UKCentre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UKDepartment of Psychology, Sociology and Politics, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UKThere is increasing research interest in the experiences of new fathers taking paternity leave, but less insight into men’s experiences of returning to work after the birth of their first baby. For many men in the UK context, this could take place immediately after the birth or after one or two weeks of paternity leave. This paper utilizes data from a UK-based study whilst also drawing on international literature and policy contexts. A constructivist grounded theory method was adopted to generate theory from the data gathered. Twelve new fathers shared their experiences in this study by participating in audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews. This paper focuses on fathers’ experiences of negotiating the workplace as part of an overall theoretical framework related to broader transitions to fatherhood and sheds light on the distress, guilt and psychological challenges that the participants experienced when they initially returned to work. Whether fathers did or did not explicitly describe distress at this time, they all described a change in their worker identity, which for some participants led to uncertainty in the workplace. Men returning to work at this time in the postnatal period are vulnerable to experiencing distress. Flexibility and support in the workplace could be protective of their mental health. Finally, policy and practice developments are offered to support men’s transitions to fatherhood in the workplace context.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/9/1352distressreturn to workfathersfatherhoodtransitionspaternal |
| spellingShingle | Suzanne Hodgson Jon Painter Laura Kilby Julia Hirst “Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work Healthcare distress return to work fathers fatherhood transitions paternal |
| title | “Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work |
| title_full | “Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work |
| title_fullStr | “Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work |
| title_short | “Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work |
| title_sort | crying on the bus first time fathers experiences of distress on their return to work |
| topic | distress return to work fathers fatherhood transitions paternal |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/9/1352 |
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