Connections

So some of you may know that I have recently become fairly interested in the role of fathers on infant development. Last semester at UNC I took a survey course on infant feeding and participated in a group project that looked at ways to better involve men in the process their partner and baby go through from early gestation through the first year of life. We found that very few public health studies even recognize father's as an important part of the necessary support needed for proper development, nourishment, and support on the part of the mother and her baby. Most interventions address the mother and seek to eliminate the barriers she faces while providing the best possible care for her baby.

The issue of paternal involvement interests me for many reasons, but I think specifically because it seems like quite an obvious opportunity but for some reason so thoroughly overlooked both in research and practice.
Today, I had the unique opportunity to meet with a pioneer in this area of research and study here in Hanoi. Dr. Bich, who works at the Hanoi School of Public Health, became interested in this topic when he was getting his PhD in epidemiology and behavioral science at Tulane. He said that he too was baffled at the lack of studies or interventions that even mentioned men as important, if not vital. components to the necessary support system needed by women and infants. Dr. Bich recently finished a study that looked at the impact of paternal support on rates of Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) practices in a province just outside of Hanoi where the exclusive BF rate was approximately 4%, significantly lower than the already low national rate of 16-18% through the first six months.

He was just recently funded for a scale-up project that will look at not only the impact of paternal support for the mother and what role that plays on EBF rates, but also the impact paternal involvement has on the infant's development from 7-20 weeks post-gestation through 1 year old. Personally, I think this is very interesting because it combines all three levels (father, mother, and baby) and recognizes the father's role to both mother and baby as equally important for the short and long-term health and well being of the infant.
I was grateful for the time Dr. Bich took to explain his research and was quite impressed by his resilience to such an under-funded, under-recognized topic such as this.

I look forward to more opportunities to stay in touch with Dr. Bich and am curious to see what findings may come from his next research project.
More to come on this front, as the beginnings of an organization called "Three to Be" or 32B are mulling in my mind (An advocacy/Call to Action organization for men to step up their roles in supporting and nuturing their partner and infant).

                                                Father and child at local park

                                                     Hanoi School of Public Health