Videos help new dads learn about infant safety before bringing newborn home

by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Sadie Harley

Scientific Editor

Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process

Robert Egan

Associate Editor

Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process Editors' notes

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

trusted source

proofread

The GIST Add as preferred source

Brief videos shown in the hospital newborn nursery may be an effective way to educate first-time fathers on infant care topics, such as safe sleep, infant crying and car safety, according to a pilot study published in the journal Pediatrics Open Science. These topics were selected as common parental knowledge gaps and successful targets of previous educational interventions for mothers.

"New fathers often report feeling like bystanders in health care settings, with parenting supports primarily focused on the mother from pregnancy through the postpartum," said Mikaela Thompson from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who led the study supervised by Craig Garfield, MD, an expert on fathers' role in child development, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

"Our study recognizes the importance of involving fathers in child health, and especially in infant injury prevention, from the very beginning of becoming a father."

Previous research has shown that unintentional injuries, including those related to unsafe sleep, frustration with crying and poor car seat safety, are the leading causes of death in young children.

"The videos in our study on key injury prevention topics are a novel educational intervention soon after infant birth that offers unique opportunities to reach fathers who may not be able to come to infant health care visits," explained Dr. Craig Garfield, also professor of pediatrics and medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"We show that the newborn nursery is indeed a viable setting for father-focused instruction—fathers may actually be looking for this sort of information at this time."

The study recruited 167 first-time fathers of full-term infants. On enrollment, participants completed an initial survey and viewed brief evidence-based videos that featured a real father and his 2-week-old infant, with educational content presented by a pediatrician or a childhood injury-prevention expert.

Participants completed a pre- and post-viewing knowledge survey, and additional knowledge and behavior questions one week and one month after discharge.

Researchers found that fathers' knowledge about safe sleep and infant crying improved significantly after the video intervention, but these gains were not fully sustained post-discharge. Knowledge about the use of a rear-facing car seat was high, with safe riding in the appropriate car seat universal among the study participants.

"Our finding suggests that at-home reinforcement or 'booster sessions' might be needed to maintain learning and support behaviors, especially in the first year," Garfield said. "Text messaging might help support study retention. In the future, video-based, father-focused intervention could be expanded to other clinical settings, such as the neonatal intensive care unit and well-child visits."

More information

Pediatrics Open Science (2026)

Key medical concepts

Accidental Injuriespreventing injury

Clinical categories

PediatricsChildren's healthCommon illnesses & Prevention Provided by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Who's behind this story?

Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →

Robert Egan

Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →

Citation: Videos help new dads learn about infant safety before bringing newborn home (2026, June 19) retrieved 19 June 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-videos-dads-infant-safety-newborn.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.