DISCUSSION
QMI, depression, ’
The study compared wives' satisfaction with mental support from their husbands after childbirth and found no significant differences between intervention and control groups. In addition, the wives' postpartum EPDS decreased with the passage of postpartum time in the intervention group, but comparisons between the two groups showed no significant differences. Thus, Hypothesis There was no significant difference between the intra‐group comparison and the inter‐group comparison in the subscale ‘wife's mental support’. In other words, participation in the pregnancy programme did not affect the emotional bond between the couple. ‘Wife's mental support’ is expressed by the husband in words and attitudes that consider the wife (Nakajima & Tokiwa, In addition, the EPDS, which was used to measure the mental health of wives, showed no significant decrease in the control group but decreased significantly over time in the intervention group. A meta‐analysis of perinatal depression in Japanese women shows that the prevalence of depression decreases over time in the postpartum period (Tokumitsu et al., Regarding the physical health of the older primiparas, husbands showed significantly greater understanding of their wives' physical burdens after childbirth in the intervention group than in the control group, and wives' showed significantly greater satisfaction with housework support from their husbands. Thus, Hypothesis Husbands' perceptions of their wives' physical burdens in the intervention group increased significantly 1 month after childbirth. In addition, ‘housework support’ on the subscale of ‘wife's satisfaction with husband's support’, was significantly reduced in the control group 3 months after childbirth. However, wives' perceptions in the intervention group did not decline, and no significant differences were found. In other words, husbands who participated in the pregnancy programme could understand the physical burden on their wives after childbirth thus avoiding a decrease in the wives' satisfaction with their husband's support. The husbands' housework support is a realistic supportive behaviour and is easily shared by the couple (Nakajima & Tokiwa, There were no significant differences in the QMI between the intervention and control groups regarding their satisfaction with the postnatal marital relationship. Therefore, Hypothesis In this study, Hypothesis 