Abstract
Maternal mortality remains high in most African countries including Nigeria. Delays in seeking care for normal delivery and obstetric emergencies are the major determinants of maternal mortality. Birth Preparedness (BP) has been found to be very effective in reducing these delays. Females have always been focused on birth preparedness studies. This study was however designed to investigate male involvement in the practice of birth preparedness in Southern, Nigeria. This was a descriptive study design using a validated structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 302 married men in the community. Knowledge on BP was measured on a 48-point knowledge scale and a 30-point practice scale was used to determine male involvement in BP. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at p<0.05. The mean age of the respondents was 38.0 ± 8.6 years. Majority (59.9 %) of the respondents had good knowledge on birth preparedness. Mean score for level of involvement was 21.52±5.4 and 43.0% of the respondents had good score. Identified factors militating against male involvement in birth preparedness include low socioeconomic status, busy work schedule, cultural belief, and poor attitude of health workers. There was significant association between knowledge of birth preparedness and religion as well as level of male involvement in BP (p=0.018; 0.001 respectively). This study showed low level of male involvement in birth preparedness. Several factors were identified to be responsible for this. There is therefore the need for sustainable community health education programmes to motivate and encourage male involvement in birth preparedness. Keywords: Birth preparedness, Knowledge, Male involvement, Practices
Highlights
Maternal and infant mortality remains a global public health challenge
World Health Organization (WHO, 2019), estimated that every day, approximately 810 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, 94% of these occur in developing countries and higher among women living in rural areas and among poorer communities
A similar study conducted in Nepal by Bhusal et al, (2015) revealed that more than half of the respondents were aware of birth preparedness, but in contrast to this, was the findings from South Ethiopia in 2015 by Tamiso et al, (2015) which showed that only few (9.4%) of the married men were aware of birth preparedness
Summary
Maternal and infant mortality remains a global public health challenge. World Health Organization (WHO, 2019), estimated that every day, approximately 810 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, 94% of these occur in developing countries and higher among women living in rural areas and among poorer communities. A process of planning for normal birth and anticipating the actions needed in case of emergency which includes identification of skilled birth attendants, identification of appropriate health facility closest to the pregnant woman’s location, preparing for funds for birth related expenses, planning for transportation to the health facility at the onset of labour and identification of compatible blood donors in case of emergency has been documented to reduce delay for seeking maternal healthcare (JHPIEGO, 2004). Birth preparedness does generally address ‘three delays’ which includes; delay in recognition of problem, delay in seeking care, and delay in receiving care at health facility. These delays represent barriers that often result in preventable maternal deaths (JHPIEGO, 2004, Udofia et al, 2004). The World Health Organization (2015) recommended that male involvement is one of the interventions needed to improve maternal and newborn health
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