Factors influencing men’s involvement in antenatal care services: a cross-sectional study in a low resource setting, Central Tanzania

Abstract

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.

Attitude and Involvement of Male Partner in Maternal Health Care in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a Cross-sectional Study

“…This study showed that the man accompanying his wife to the health facility for the ANC service is low. The ndings are consistent with the results of studies conducted in Ghana (35%) (8) But the results are higher than a study conducted in Nigeria (24%) (10); and lower than studies conducted in Eastern Ethiopia (45.2%), Tanzania (63.4%) and Myanmar (82%) (11)(12)(13), respectively. This may be due to differences in socio-cultural and health care environments.…”

“why Would I Use a Condom When I Want to Have a Child?” Men’s Unmet Needs Regarding Sexual and Reproductive Health Information in the Context of HIV in Zambia

“…This is evident from our participants' mixed views on condoms, and how some felt they could not continue having sexual relations with their partners if they must use condoms, with others viewing it as a preventive measure and some not being sure it was the right thing for them. Health promotion outside of ANC is therefore needed to empower men with essential information for meaningful involvement [29]. Our ndings support the conclusions of Kura et al [22], who report that inadequate knowledge, cultural factors and lack of appropriate services adversely affect men's involvement in their wives and their own sexual and reproductive health.…”

“…Thus, the historic institutionalisation of reproductive health, and particularly maternal health, as a women-only realm has yielded health services that continue to not accommodate men, contributing to men's perception of clinic spaces as 'women's spaces' and reproductive health as 'women's health' [15,27,28]. This study concurs that the traditional emphasis on maternal health has resulted in men being neglected in much of the sexual and reproductive health education [10,29].…”

Women’s Perception of Male Involvement in Antenatal, Childbirth and Postnatal Care in Urban Slum Areas in Bangladesh: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…Only a small portion of husbands (35.8%) provided a high level of support in maternal health. This finding was lower than others [17][18][19][20]. For example, in a study in rural Bangladesh, Rahman et al [17] found that 47% of women who attended an ANC visit were accompanied by their husbands and approximately half of the husbands were present at the time of childbirth while 67% were with their wives during a PNC visit.…”