Seeing ultrasound images of their future child in the womb causes expectant fathers to bond, according to a new study in Fathering.
In one of the first U.S. studies to examine ultrasound's effects on future parents, researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health interviewed 22 expectant fathers, ages 23 to 41 years, after they had viewed a routine ultrasound administered 16 to 20 weeks into a pregnancy. Half of them were expecting their first child, and a majority (16 of 22) were married to the mothers.
Researchers found that the viewing was an important event for the men, establishing that the child was really on the way and that all was going well with the pregnancy, said lead author Dr. Tova Walsh (Fathering, April 21, 2014).
The interviews also revealed that the viewings represented important practical and psychological preparations for parenthood -- and that they extended the men's plans and dreams for the child "beyond the immediate future of infancy and across the child's lifespan," the group reported.
It also caused the men to reflect on their roles in the life of mother and child, making it an important practical and psychological preparation for parenthood.
One man spoke of imagining that he was walking his future daughter down the aisle to get married; another participant spoke of new urgency to maintain a steady job now that he would soon have a son who depended on him to eat.
"Ultrasound appointments may offer an opportunity to engage men to promote positive partnering and parenting across the life span," the researchers concluded.
