Most users of a prenatal consultation dedicated to future fathers are immigrants facing hardship

Abstract

BackgroundPrenatal care provides pregnant women with repeated opportunities for prevention, screening and diagnosis that have no current extension to future fathers. Prenatal care explains why HIV-infected women are diagnosed earlier than heterosexual men wordwide and contributes to women’s general better access to health. The goal of PARTAGE study was to access the level and determinants of adherence to a prenatal prevention consultation dedicated to men.MethodsBetween January 2021 and April 2022, we conducted an interventional study assessing the acceptance of a prenatal prevention consultation newly offered to every woman over 18 attending prenatal care in Montreuil’s maternity ward, and extending it to the future father, when there was one.Results3,038 women provided contact information that was used to reach the father ; effective contact was established with 2,516 men, of whom 1,333 (53%) came for prenatal prevention consultation. Immigrant men were more likely to come than French-born men (56% versus 49%, p < 0.001), and the greater the precariousness of their situation, the more likely they were to accept the offer. In a multivariate analysis, men born in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia were twice as likely to attend the consultation as those born in Europe or North America.ConclusionAcceptance of this new offer was high. Moreover, this consultation was perceived by economically vulnerable immigrant men as an opportunity to integrate a healthcare system they would otherwise remain deprived of.