When a man who becomes a father for the first time feels happy in his relationship with his wife

Abstract

Objective : The aim of this study was to clarify when first-time fathers feel happy in their relationship with his wife.

Methods : Qualitative descriptive research with semi-structured one-to-one interviews was conducted for 13 men.

Results : Three categories were revealed : （1） feeling at peace watching my child grow up together with my wife, （2） a feeling that the wife cares about the husband having become a father, and （3） a feeling that the wife is aware of the thoughtfulness shown by the husband’.

Conclusions : The subjects of this survey, men who had become fathers for the first time, talked about the empathy and intimacy that are achieved through communication between the husband and wife. The birth of a child led to a deepening of the relationship and an increase in intimacy between the husband and wife. The intimacy between the husband and wife is maintained and family harmony is achieved when they relate to each other as parents of the child and as husband and wife.

The results of this study will be helpful for understanding the feelings of both difficulty and happiness that are experienced when raising children and should be useful for enhancing subjective well-being and achieving family harmony.