Decline in Partner-Accompanied Births during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Internet-Based Study

Mai Uchida, Sumiyo Okawa (), Yoshihiko Hosokawa and Takahiro Tabuchi
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Mai Uchida: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
Sumiyo Okawa: Institute for Global Health Policy Research, Bureau of International Health Cooperation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
Yoshihiko Hosokawa: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan
Takahiro Tabuchi: Cancer Control Center, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka 541-8567, Japan

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: The study objective was to describe trends in partner-accompanied birth between January 2019 and August 2021 and examine the associations of partner-accompanied birth with women’s psychological distress and partners’ housework and parenting. A total of 5605 women who had a live singleton birth between January 2019 and August 2021 and had a partner participated in this nationwide internet-based survey between July and August 2021 in Japan. The percentages of women’s intentions and actual experience of partner-accompanied births were calculated per month. Associations of partner-accompanied birth with scores on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) ?10, partners’ participation in housework and parenting, and factors associated with having a partner-accompanied birth were examined using a multivariable Poisson regression model. The proportion of women who had partner-accompanied births was 65.7% between January 2019 and March 2020, dropping to 32.1% between April 2020 and August 2021. Partner-accompanied birth was not associated with a K6 score ?10, but was significantly associated with the partner’s daily housework and parenting (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.08, 95% CI 1.02–1.14). Partner-accompanied births have been substantially restricted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The right to a birth partner should be protected, while addressing infection control.

Keywords: birth partner; parenting; mental health; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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