Important variables for parents' postnatal sense of security: evaluating a new Swedish instrument (the PPSS instrument).

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate dimensions of both parents' postnatal sense of security the first week after childbirth, and to determine associations between the PPSS instrument and different sociodemographic and situational background variables. DESIGN: evaluative, cross-sectional design. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: 113 mothers and 99 fathers with children live born at term, from five hospitals in southern Sweden. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: mothers and fathers had similar feelings concerning postnatal sense of security. Of the dimensions in the PPSS instrument, a sense of midwives'/nurses' empowering behaviour, a sense of one's own general well-being and a sense of the mother's well-being as experienced by the father were the most important dimensions for parents' experienced security. A sense of affinity within the family (for both parents) and a sense of manageable breast feeding (for mothers) were not significantly associated with their experienced security. A sense of participation during pregnancy and general anxiety were significantly associated background variables for postnatal sense of security for both parents. For the mothers, parity and a sense that the father was participating during pregnancy were also significantly associated. KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: more focus on parents' participation during pregnancy as well as midwives'/nurses' empowering behaviour during the postnatal period will be beneficial for both parents' postnatal sense of security.