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Updated: Jul 30, 2025

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
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"Crying on the Bus": First Time Fathers' Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work

Suzanne Hodgson1, Jon Painter2, Laura Kilby3

  • 1Department of Nursing, Manukau Institute of Technology-Te Pūkenga, Manukau, Auckland 2104, New Zealand.

Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)
|May 13, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Returning to work after their first baby

Area of Science:

  • Sociology
  • Psychology
  • Workplace Studies

Background:

  • Limited research exists on fathers' return-to-work experiences post-childbirth.
  • Paternity leave is increasing, but the transition back to work remains under-explored.
  • Focus is on the UK context, with international comparisons.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore new fathers' experiences returning to work after the birth of their first child.
  • To understand the psychological challenges and identity shifts during this transition.
  • To develop theoretical insights into fatherhood transitions in the workplace.

Main Methods:

  • Constructivist grounded theory approach.
  • Semi-structured audio-recorded interviews with 12 new fathers in the UK.
  • Analysis of data to generate a theoretical framework.

Main Results:

  • Fathers experienced distress, guilt, and psychological challenges upon returning to work.
  • All participants reported a change in their worker identity, causing workplace uncertainty.
  • Vulnerability to distress is high during the postnatal period return-to-work phase.

Conclusions:

  • Workplace flexibility and support are crucial for fathers' mental health during this transition.
  • Policy and practice changes are needed to support fathers' integration into the workplace.
  • Addressing these challenges facilitates a smoother transition to fatherhood.

Keywords:
distressfatherhoodfathersidentitypaternalperinatalreturn to worktransitions

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