Hearing from First Nations Dads: Qualitative yarns informing service planning and practice in urban Australia

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Anton Clifford‐Motopi,Ike Fisher,Sue Kildea,Sophie Hickey,Yvette Roe,Sue Kruske
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12731

RESEARCH

Hearing from First Nations Dads: Qualitative yarns

informing service planning and practice in urban

Australia

Anton Clifford-Motopi

1

|Ike Fisher

2

|Sue Kildea

1

|

Sophie Hickey

1

|Yvette Roe

1

|Sue Kruske

1

1

Molly Wardaguga Research Centre, College

of Nursing and Midwifery, Charles Darwin

University, Brisbane, Australia

2

Institute for Urban Indigenous Heath,

Brisbane, Australia

Correspondence

Anton Clifford-Motopi, Molly Wardaguga

Research Centre, College of Nursing and

Midwifery, Charles Darwin University,

410 Ann Street, Brisbane QLD 4000 Australia.

Email: cliffordmotopi@gmail.com

Funding information

This work was supported by the Lowitja

Institute (017-YMM-006).

Abstract

Objective: This qualitative study explores the experiences

and perceptions of new and expectant First Nations

fathers in an urban setting in Australia.

Background: Little is known about the experiences of First

Nations men as fathers, including their transition to

fatherhood and their strengths and challenges as fathers.

Method: Eight First Nations men who were expectant or new

fathers participated in individual yarning interviews. Data

were analyzed using descriptive phenomenological analysis.

Results: Men perceived a father to be a protector, provider

and someone who reflects on how to be a better father. To

be a better father, men were trying to heal and learn from

their past and build their identity as a father, while manag-

ing the stress of fatherhood.

Conclusion: The study identified four strategies to support

new First Nations fathers: (a) create gathering places for

men to connect with and learn from other dads, (b) mater-

nity and early childhood services should be inclusive of men

and their role as fathers, (c) clinical intervention and sup-

portive pathways into fatherhood, and (d) promote and cel-

ebrate the strengths androles of First Nations fathers.

Implications: Maternity and early childhood services can

better support First Nations men in their transition to

fatherhood by being more responsive to their needs and

inclusive of their important role in child development and

strengthening the family unit.

Author note. The authors gratefully acknowledge the First Nations men who agreed to be interviewed for this study.

Received: 19 April 2021Revised: 3 February 2022Accepted: 30 May 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12731

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use,

distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

© 2022 The Authors. Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:1933–1948. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1933

KEYWORDS

Australia, fatherhood, First Nations fathers, Indigenous fathers,

qualitative research, yarning

The benefits of parenting for health and well-being are well documented (Diemer, 1997; Modig

et al., 2017). The role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter referred to as First

Nations) men as parents has been identified as important to their general well-being (Tsey

et al., 2002). Strengthening First Nations men’s role as parents is therefore likely to benefit their

health and well-being (Adams, 2006; Tsey et al., 2004) and has been shown to improve child

development and family harmony (Bornstein, 2012; Panter-Brick et al., 2014). Despite the posi-

tive impact of fatherhood on the social and psychological well-being of men and their partners

and children, knowledge and understanding of fatherhood is limited compared with what is

known about maternal health (Bartlett, 2004; Panter-Brick et al., 2014). A systematic review of

the international literature found that published evidence on parenting roles and interventions

is focused on mothers and children; few parenting interventions directly target fathers, and their

impact on outcomes for fathers is seldom assessed (Panter-Brick et al., 2014). Most research on

men as parents focuses on health and development outcomes of their children (Opondo

et al., 2016) or female partners (Bond, 2010). Even less is known about the experiences of First

Nations men as fathers, including their transition to fatherhood and their strengths and chal-

lenges as fathers (Canuto et al., 2020; Reilly & Rees, 2018).

First Nations men in Australian communities experience fatherhood in a sociocultural con-

text that presents unique and different challenges than those experienced by non-Indigenous

men (Canuto, Brown, et al., 2018; Canuto et al., 2019; Carlin et al., 2021). The role of First

Nations men as fathers has been adversely affected by colonization and ensuing discriminatory

government practices and policies (Carlin et al., 2021; Reilly & Rees, 2018) which have contrib-

uted to the undermining of the role of First Nations men in Indigenous society (Adams, 2006;

Tsey et al., 2004). First Nations men in Australia are more likely than their non-Indigenous

counterparts to experience fatherhood in a context of compromised health and well-being,

socioeconomic disadvantage (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016), intergenerational trauma

(Atkinson, 2013), disruptions to the family unit (Reilly & Rees, 2018), and persistent barriers to

health care (Canuto, Wittert, et al., 2018) and social support (Fletcher et al., 2014).

Despite the challenging sociocultural context in which First Nations men collectively experi-

ence fatherhood, recent research has identified their self-determination to adapt to overcome

these challenges and aspire to become the best father they can be (Canuto et al., 2019,2020;

Carlin et al., 2021; Reilly & Rees, 2018; Rossiter et al., 2017). The role of maternal services in

supporting First Nations men as fathers is limited due to characteristics of these services that

inadvertently exclude First Nations men (Canuto, Wittert, et al., 2018), including perceptions

around cultural protocols concerning First Nations gendered health perspectives, a bias in

mainstream maternity services toward mothers as the primary caregiver (Kruske et al., 2012),

negative or indifferent health worker attitudes toward First Nations men as fathers; gendered

names of services (Canuto et al., 2019; Reilly & Rees, 2018), a lack of male frontline workers

(Canuto, Brown, et al., 2018; Canuto, Wittert, et al., 2018), and a lack of male-specific

resources (Canuto et al., 2020).

International studies from marginalized populations report positive outcomes from increas-

ing men’s involvement in maternal care. For instance, a systematic review and meta-analysis of

the impact of male involvement on maternal health outcomes in developing countries found sig-

nificant benefits of male involvement on reducing the odds of maternal depression and improv-

ing utilization of maternal health services (Yargawa & Leonardi-Bee, 2015). A randomized

controlled trial among couples in Burkina Faso, West Africa, found that involving men as sup-

portive partners in maternity care improved adherence to recommended healthy practices after

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