Women and men facing parenthood. Some of their difficulties and needs for support

Abstract

In this paper we present the results of a study regarding the transition to parenthood. It shows that many men and women in our cultural context come across serious difficulties when they become parents. Some of these difficulties are related to a lack of information about children, their development and education and, sometimes, a lack of social support. After the application of a parent education programme which offers families some of the support and help they need, we observed that parents were better able to find solutions to their doubts, to obtain appropiate information and, as a whole, to rely on valuable social support that increased their access to resources. The results prove that parent education programmes can be an effective way of offering men and women some of the advice, supportand assistance they need in orderto carry out their tasks as parents in a more competent and fulfilling way.