Needs of first-time parents during their transition to parenthood

A doctoral thesis submitted in 2008 sought to identify potential challenges for the transition of first-time parents in Malta to parenthood. The study found a significant difference in the adjustment to parenthood between the male and female participants. The research also looked at the work–life plan of the first-time mothers and found that, while over half those questioned planned to continue their career, less than a quarter had done so by six months postnatal.

About the study

The study, ‘The needs of Maltese first-time parents during their transition to parenthood – implications for the development of an educational programme’, was carried out by Rita Borg Xuereb as part of the requirement for her degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Malta. The main aim of the research was to explore the experiences and perceptions of first-time parents between pregnancy and the first six months postnatal period.

Methodology

The study collected data over a period of time using a mixture of methods. It was based on a survey of 442 randomly selected parents who constituted 221 couples and who returned the survey questionnaire during the antenatal period. A total 117 couples subsequently completed the questionnaire up to the end of the six-month postnatal period. A further 13 couples participated in the qualitative part of the study, which looked primarily at which parent took parental leave to look after the baby.

The responses given in the questionnaire were analysed using descriptive profile analysis (multivariate analysis of variance, MANOVA) and content analysis. The qualitative interviews were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Main findings

The mean age of the first-time mothers who participated in the study was 27.1 years and the father’s average age was 29.3. The biggest group of parents (48.5%) had a secondary level of education, followed by those with a post-secondary level (28%) and those with a tertiary-level education (23%); 0.5% of the participants had a primary level of education only.

The study found that there is a ‘statistically significant difference in marital adjustment across the transition to parenthood for both women and men’. However, the women were significantly ‘more emotionally distressed at six weeks postnatal’ – a time when social support offered to parents begins to decrease.

The research also showed that the women in the study took on more responsibilities for household tasks over time.

Antenatal employment status of mothers

When they became pregnant, 29 of the 221 women (13.1%) were already at home full time but the vast majority (86.9%) were in paid employment. Of those surveyed, 29.4% of the mothers planned to resume employment by six months postnatal and 27.6% planned to return to work at a later date.

The vast majority of those working were doing so on a full-time basis with only 6.3% working between 18 to 35 hours per week. Overall, 34.4% of the women were planning to terminate their employment sometime during the antenatal period. This means that, by the time they had their baby, 43% of the first-time mothers involved in the study were already out of the labour market.

Postnatal employment status of mothers

When the work–life plan of the mothers was checked again at six months postnatal, it was found that 46.2% of the 117 who completed the questionnaire at this stage were full-time homemakers and 30.8% were still on parental leave (possibly due to the longer parental leave available to parents who work in the public sector compared with the three months’ leave allowed in the private sector). While 29.4% of mothers had planned to resume work by six months postnatal, in reality, only 23.1% of the first-time mothers had actually managed or wanted to return to work (see table).