Background Men’s involvement can impact the delays in the decision to seek health care and in reaching a health facility, which are contributing causes for increased maternal mortality. Despite of the call to involve men in antenatal care, their participation is not well understood. This study aimed to determine the level of men’s involvement in antenatal care and the factors influencing their involvement in these services. Methods A cross sectional study of 966 randomly selected men aged 18 years or older was conducted in Dodoma Region, from June 2014 to November 2015. Face to face interviews were conducted using a pretested structured questionnaire. The outcome variable was men’s involvement and was constructed from four dichotomized items which were scored zero to two for low involvement and three to four for high involvement. A multiple logistic model was used to measure the factors influencing men’s involvement in antenatal care services. Results The level of men’s involvement in antenatal care was high (53.9%). Majority 89% of respondents made joint decisions on seeking antenatal care. More than half (63.4%) of respondents accompanied their partners to the antenatal clinic at least once. Less than a quarter (23.5%) of men was able to discuss issues related to pregnancy with their partner’s health care providers. About 77.3% of respondents provided physical support to their partners during the antenatal period. Factors influencing men’s involvement in antenatal care were occupation (AOR = 0.692, 95% CI = 0.511–0.936), ethnicity (AOR = 1.495, 95% CI = 1.066–2.097), religion (AOR = 1.826, 95% CI = 1.245–2.677), waiting time (AOR = 1.444, 95% CI = 1.094–1.906), information regarding men’s involvement in antenatal care (AOR = 3.077, 95% CI = 2.076–4.562) and men’s perception about theattitude of health care providers (AOR = 1.548, 95%CI = 1.090–2.199). Conclusion Overall, more than half of respondents reported high involvement in antenatal care services. Access to information on men’s involvement, religion, occupation, ethnicity, waiting time and men’s perception about the attitude of care providers were significant factors influencing men’s involvement in antenatal care services in this study. Health promotion is needed to empower men with essential information for meaningful involvement in antenatal care services.

Background Male involvement in maternal health has been linked to positive health outcomes for women and children, as they control household resources and make significant decisions, which influence maternal health. Despite of the important role they have in maternal health care, their actual involvement remains low. The objective of this study was to explore community perspectives on potential barriers to men's involvement in maternity care in central Tanzania. Methods Qualitative research methods were used in data collection. We conducted 32 focus group discussions (16 FGDs with men and 16 FGDs with women) and 34 in-depth interviews with community leaders, village health workers and health care providers. Interview guides were used to guide the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The interviews and discussions were audio recorded, transcribed and translated into English and imported into QSR NVivo 9 software for thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data; men's maternity care involvement indicators, benefits of men's involvement in maternity health care services and barriers to men's involvement in maternity health care services. Results Both men and women participants acknowledged the importance of men's involvement in maternity health care services, even though few men actually got involved. Identified benefits of men's involvement in maternity health care services include: Learning any risk factors directly from the health care providers and getting prepared in addressing them; and reinforcing adherence to instruction received from the health care provider as family protectors and guardians. Barriers to men's involvement in maternity health care services are systemic; starting from the family, health care and culture-specific gender norms for maternity

BackgroundSkilled birth attendance is one of the key factors in improving maternal health but less than 50% of women in sub-Saharan African countries do not have the opportunity to be attended to by skilled personnel during childbirth. The aim of the study was to assess the factors determining women’s preference for a place to give birth in Dodoma Region, Tanzania.MethodsThis study employed a cross-sectional survey design using quantitative data collection and analysis methods. Data were collected using structured questionnaire administered to 800 women obtained through multistage random sampling. Multivariable logistic regression model was applied to determine the predictors of place of delivery.ResultsMore than three quarters 629(78.6%) respondents had their last delivery in the health facilities while 171(21.4%) had their last delivery at home/on the way to hospital. Reasons for delivering at home include: abrupt occurrence of labour pain, long distance to the health facilities, lack of money to pay for transport and unfriendly experience with the health care providers. Simple logistic regression model indicate that mothers’ education level, number of children, cost of transport the estimated distance to the nearby health facility and occupation were strong predictors of the preferred place of delivery. However, after controlling the potential confounder, the multivariable logistic regression model demonstrated a significant association between delivery at the health facility and the number of children and transport cost. ConclusionOur findings suggest a need for health care providers to enhance health education to women and their spouses about birth preparedness and the importance of delivering at the health facility. There is also a need for the government to increase the number of health facilities including maternity waiting homes and well trained health workers in both rural and urban areas.

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