Abstract
Background: Pregnancy is one of the most important and sensitive periods for any woman that in the case of the support of her relatives, especially her spouse, feels more ability to tolerate it’s difficulties and gives them good memory. However, there are very few studies about the participation of spouses/partners in perinatal period in Iran. Therefore, the present study aimed to explain the concept of spouses' participation in perinatal care. Methods: This is a qualitative study that was carried out in Qom, Iran in 2018. Purposive sampling was done from pregnant or postpartum women, spouses, midwifery care providers and key informants according to study inclusion criteria. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out until data saturation. Data analysis was done based on conventional content analysis approach according to Graneheim & Lundman steps and using MaxQDA software (v.10). To ensure the trustworthiness of data, the five Guba and Lincoln criteria were used. Also, COREQ checklist was used for reporting this qualitative research. Results: fifty-three final codes were classified into 18 sub-categories, 7 main categories and 3 themes include of empathy (emotional understanding, cognitive understanding), accountability (supporting, position management, compassion) and consequences (help improve family function, improve maternal-neonatal health). Conclusion: since, spouses’ participatory behaviors in perinatal period can lead to improve maternal and neonatal health and family function, it is necessary to be considered in family-based health promotion policies and programming based on these policies such as improving the public culture of spouse participation in the process of child-rearing.