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

Husband involvement in prenatal care is a relatively new concept in Iran. This studyaimed to determine the effects of husband involvement in prenatal care on couples’ intimacy andpostpartum blues in primiparous pregnant women. This quasi-experimental study was performed on 72 primiparous pregnant women witha gestational age of 20-36 weeks in Rafsanjan in 2021 (January to September). After conveniencesampling, the participants were assigned to control (N=36) and intervention groups (N=36). Participantsin the intervention group were accompanied by their husbands and received routine prenatal careand virtual training. Participants in the control group received routine prenatal care without husbandinvolvement. The Unidimensional Relationship Closeness Scale was completed before the interventionand two weeks after delivery, and the postpartum blues Stein questionnaire was completed one weekafter delivery. Data were analysed through SPSS V. 22 and using independent two-sample t-test, pairedt-test, chi-square, Fisher’s exact tests, and Pearson correlation coefficient with a significance level ofP<0.05. The results showed that 5 women (15.2%) in the intervention group and 26 (72.2%) in thecontrol group suffered from postpartum blues after intervention (P<0.001). There was no statisticallysignificant 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 thetwo groups (P=0.01). Husband involvement in prenatal care seems to be able to reduce the incidence ofpostpartum blues but may possibly increase the couples’ intimacy. Therefore, it can be suggested thatmidwives consider husband involvement in prenatal care.