It all depends upon the father himself. Some fathers are just confrontational and even want to decide how to treat the babies then they are barriers to the care. Some fathers will continuously raise reasonable concern then they are facilitators. I even had a father carry a gun into the unit in his police officer uniform which is definitely not helpful. However, I do hope most fathers will show up once a while in NICU so we can have opportunity to talk. A problem we face often is some father can only visit after midnight which lead to a very difficult situation for the faculty to communicate with them. 

our African society believe that babies belong to the mother and therefore involvement remain minimal.in our study on post natal care   40.9% of men took mothers for Antenatal clinics but very few 29.1% for postnatal care

Barriers: I believe society has historicaly left fathers out of the NICU because the mother is the natural caretaker. 

Fathers are also left out of decison for treatment in NICU because for unmarried couples, only the mother are allowed to legally consent for treatment for the babies.

Inadequate/lack of paid family leave also prevents frequent visitation of fathers to NICU because they have to work during this critical time int their childs life. This results in delaying bond between these fathers and child/mother

Lower economic strata parents also tend to have restrictions due to lack of transportation to the hospital

Facilitators: Having a culture of family centered care with BOTH parents encouraged to perform things like giving medications, changing diapers , and also involving fathers in the discharge process from the NICU . With the increase use of breastmilk in thhe NICU, involving fathers in the mothers wish to provide breastmilk for NICU ifnfants increased their participation in their infants care.