This bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to run a public awareness campaign within 2 years to increase understanding of the importance of father inclusion and engagement during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. The campaign must include public messaging, resources to counter narratives that minimize fathers, and information about how father involvement can affect maternal and infant outcomes (for example, skin-to-skin contact, support for breastfeeding, paternal postpartum depression, and recognizing pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and ectopic pregnancy).
The bill also requires HHS to issue guidance to States within 1 year on how to encourage and incentivize maternity care providers and health coverage providers to train clinicians about including fathers. That guidance must cover how providers can offer peer father-to-father support, give fathers information on what to expect and how to support and advocate for the mother, screen fathers for depression and refer for treatment, address cultural beliefs about fatherhood, and reaffirm a father’s positive role regardless of race or ethnicity. Finally, the Comptroller General must complete a study and report on the effectiveness of the Act within 6 years.
No publicly available information on funding or cost estimates is included in the bill text.
The bill’s findings describe why supporters want the campaign and guidance. They say father engagement can improve maternal health care, reduce maternal mortality and morbidity, increase early prenatal care, support the mother’s behavioral health, lower risks of postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, reduce preterm birth risks, help successful breastfeeding, improve newborn health and bonding through skin-to-skin contact, and help mothers and babies by recognizing pregnancy-related complications.
No publicly available information about opponents’ views or objections is included in the bill text.