A new study suggests that married expectant fathers who have a combination of four resilience traits related to self-esteem might actually protect their wives from going into premature labor. This research was recently published in the Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine journal.
“This study is exciting because it highlights how the people surrounding a pregnant woman can shape her biology in ways that affect both her health and her baby’s,” said Ph.D. student Kavya Swaminathan, leader of the research team, according to a press release from the University of California-Merced.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a 4% jump in preterm births (before the 37th week of pregnancy) from 2020 to 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, there was a 1% decrease. Audacy also reported that year that more women also died during childbirth amid the pandemic than they did in the pre-pandemic years.
According to the University of California-Merced preterm birth can lead to low birth weight and it is a “leading cause of infant mortality and lifelong health complications, including heart disease and developmental disorders,” with high maternal inflammation identified as a well-established risk factor. Study authors said there has been little research regarding the impact of psychological resilience on lower maternal inflammation in pregnancy.
“This is one of the first studies to show that a father’s inner strengths, such as his optimism and ability to cope with challenges, can ripple through the family in measurable, biological ways,” said professor Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, a co-author of the study.
She said that expression of these traits can look like expectant fathers cooking healthy meals, offering encouragement, and working to reduce stress at home. Additionally, Hahn-Holbrook said that emotional connections may also play a role, “since couples tend to coregulate their moods and even their immune systems.”
To study the impact of a father’s resilience traits of social support, self-esteem, mastery, and optimism, the team analyzed data from 217 mother-father pairs who participated in the Community Child Health Network study across five sites in the U.S. For the inflammation piece, mothers provided blood samples during pregnancy that were analyzed for C-reactive protein (CRP), associated with a risk of preterm birth. Both parents also completed surveys assessing the four resilience traits.
They found that paternal resilience resources predicted lower prenatal maternal CRP, “which in turn predicted a longer gestational length in married but not unmarried parents, whether cohabiting or not.” However, they also found that “maternal resilience resources did not directly predict CRP or birth outcomes.”
“The study does not prove cause and effect, but offers strong evidence that emotional and social strength in the father can have physical consequences for mothers and babies,” said the University of California-Merced.