Background: Family Planning (FP) promotion and services are often focused on women, but nonetheless men have an important role to play also. Engaging men in family planning programs and services has the potential to improve the use of FP methods, increase healthy pregnancy timing and child spacing, and improve on the overall health of the community. It may also facilitate decision-making by men and their partners in reproductive health matters that include FP. Objectives: The aim of this study is twofold; to 1) determine the risk factors associated with male involvement in the choice of FP methods; and 2) describe the perceived barriers to male involvement in family planning. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, community-based study among men in the Buea Health District (BHD). The multistage sampling technique was used to select four health areas and twenty communities. Eligible participants were selected by consecutive and convenient sampling and were administered a structured questionnaire to measure their involvement in the choice of FP methods. Socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics of participants were obtained; and so were communication factors and barriers in FP. The logistic regression model was used to determine the factors associated with male involvement. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: A total of 292 men participated in this study, more than half (57.2%) of whom were involved in the choice of FP methods. Factors affecting the choice of FP methods were men's age ((adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR)=0.35; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.12-0.86; p=0.042)), knowledge level (aOR=2.62; 95% CI: 1.50-4.58; p=0.001), educational level (aOR=2.45; 95% CI: 1.10-5.48; p=0.029), partners level of education (aOR=2.37; 95% CI: 1.12-5.02; p=0.024) and birth spacing between partners last two deliveries (aOR=3.14; 95% CI: 1.48-6.68; p=0.003). The identified barriers to male involvement were financial constraints (lack of money), conception difficulties, inadequate information on FP methods, tradition, unskilled healthcare providers, weight gain by partners, and desire for large family size. Conclusion: This study revealed that men in the BHD were highly involved in FP. Their age, level of education, FP knowledge level, partner's level of education, and birth spacing between partner's last two deliveries were among the factors that influenced male involvement in FP. Identified barriers to male involvement in FP methods were lack of money to pay for FP meth-

IntroductionUser'sperception of quality of ANC services crucially impacts continuity of use of these services and hence pregnancy outcome. However in our community, ANC user's perceptions of quality are not known.MethodsAn observational analytic cross-sectional study was carried out amongst pregnant women attending selected government health centres in the Buea Health District. We recruited 385 consenting pregnant women for the study. Demographic and clinical data were collected using structured questionnaires. The data was entered into Microsoft Excel and exported toEpi-Info (Version 3.5.1) for analysis.ResultsGeographical accessibility and perceived quality of care were the predominant reasons for choosing or changing a site for ANC. One third of respondents (30.1%) attended a health centre out of their catchment health area with Buea Town health centre receiving the highest proportion of women out of the health area (56.8% of attendees). Knowledge about antenatal care varied and majority of respondents (96.4%) were satisfied with the antenatal services received. However, there were elements of dissatisfaction with health centre services, poor sitting facilities, amenities, few health education talks and poor nursing skills. High educational level (high school and university) (X2 = 8.714; p = 0.01) and first time pregnancy(X2= 4.217; p= 0.04) were significantly associated with poor satisfaction.ConclusionPolicy makers should implement changes in the health care delivery system taking into account the users’ preferences, more so in the light of increasing female education in Cameroon.