- Parental childcare contributions were highly imbalanced: 93% of mothers reported high contribution versus 41% of fathers.
- Paternal low contribution independently increased odds of maternal postpartum mental health disorders (OR 1.79) and poor social health (OR 1.76).
- Associations involving paternal low contribution remained consistent across sociodemographic subgroups and independent of maternal contribution level.
BMJ Public Health. 2026 Sep 22;4(3):e005051. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2026-005051. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Little is known about how differences in parental contributions to childcare impact maternal postpartum psychosocial well-being, particularly in the context of global fertility decline. This study aims to explore associations of parental childcare contributions with maternal postpartum psychosocial disorders among Chinese women.
METHODS: Data from the Grandmothers, Mothers and Their Children’s Health study in Huai’an, China were used. Participants were 1991 women who experienced childbirth between 2020 and 2021; follow-up survey was conducted in 2023. Parental childcare contributions were examined by care index. Maternal psychosocial disorders included mental health disorders and poor social health. Logistic regression models were conducted to assess the associations.
RESULTS: 93% mothers reported high-contribution childcare; in contrast, only 41% fathers had high-contributions. After mutual adjustment of parental childcare contributions, paternal low-contribution was associated with higher odds of maternal mental health disorders (OR=1.79, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.57) and poor social health (1.76, 1.37 to 2.24). However, these associations were not observed for maternal childcare contribution. For joint patterns of parental childcare contributions, those involving paternal low-contribution childcare were associated with higher odds of maternal psychosocial disorders, regardless of maternal contribution. The associations were consistent across different subpopulations with varied sociodemographic characteristics.
CONCLUSIONS: Parents’ contributions in childcare were imbalanced in China. Paternal low-contribution childcare was independently associated with higher odds of maternal postpartum psychosocial disorders, highlighting the potential relevance of paternal childcare contribution to maternal postpartum psychosocial well-being.
PMID:42781553 | PMC:PMC13599863 | DOI:10.1136/bmjph-2026-005051
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