Father’s attitude toward childbirth

Resumo

This study aimed at understanding the man’s attitudes during the process of parturition of his partner. Data were obtained through a semi-structured interview along to 10 men that accompanied the birth of their children. This step took place in two maternity hospitals in Natal-Rn city in 2004, which adopted the principle of humanization. The statements were treated in ance with to the method of content analysis by Bardin. From this process emerged three categories: taking into account the needs of partner, presence of the husband in the delivery room and gratitude attitudes. That were analyzed with the tenets of Symbolic Interactionism by Blumer. Results showed that men interact with their wives and respond with care attitudes, helping, supporting and encouragement. We note that the father’s attitudes in the delivery room, under the light of symbolic interactionism, tend to be infl uenced by his interaction with professionals who assist the woman and her partner in the delivery room.