Let my father listen to my heart sounds too: Attachment in fathers who perform Leopold maneuvers and listen to fetal heart sounds, attachment and partner relationships in mothers

Objective

This study was carried out to determine the effects of having expectant fathers perform the Leopold maneuvers and listen to fetal heart sounds on antenatal attachment in expecting couples and partner relationships in pregnant women.

Materials and Methods

The sample of the experimental study consisted of 132 women, 132 men, constituting 66 couples in the experimental group and 66 in the control group. The expectant fathers in the experimental group performed the Leopold maneuvers. They listened to fetal heart sounds for 5–10 min at every practice. In both groups, the pregnant women filled out the Personal Information Form (PIF), the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS), and the Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire-Relationship with Partner Subscale (PSEQ-RPS), whereas the expectant fathers filled out the PIF and the Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (PAAS).

Results

After the expectant fathers in the experimental group performed the Leopold maneuvers and listened to the heart sounds of their fetuses, the pregnant women in the experimental group had significantly higher total MAAS scores and significantly lower total PSEQ-RPS scores than those in the control group (respectively, p < .001 and p < .05). The total PAAS scores of the expectant fathers in the experimental group were significantly higher than the total PAAS scores of those in the control group (p < .001).

Conclusion

It was determined that having expectant fathers perform the Leopold maneuvers and listen to fetal heart sounds resulted in increased antenatal attachment levels in the expectant fathers and pregnant women and affected the relationships between the pregnant women and their partners positively.