Meaning and social participation of man when become a father for the first time

Objective: To analyze the meanings attributed to fatherhood by first-time fathers. Participants and Method: Qualitative research of Hermeneutic-Dialectic design. Data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews with fathers and mothers (10 of each) of children older than 12 months. The analysis of the data was carried out through the participants' discourse analysis and their articulation with the historical-social context and the theoretical references of the research. Results: The meaning and social participation of men when they became a first-time father were grouped in five categories: meaning of the fatherhood experience; meaning of fatherhood from a gender perspective; meaning of the experience in the father-child relationship; meaning of the parenting experience in the couple relationship; and exercising fatherhood and its relationship with the health system. Conclusions: It is necessary to implement strategies to include the father in the upbringing and care of the children, favoring his participation, and thus, the growth and comprehensive development of the child conceived in the different types of families.