Abstract
BackgroundThere is limited evidence about husbands’ roles on women’s utilization of skilled maternity care in Ethiopia, a country with low utilization coverage of skilled birth attendants and high maternal mortality. This study examined the association between husbands’ involvement in antenatal care and women’s use of skilled birth attendants in Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia.MethodsUsing a cohort study design, we followed a random sample of 709 antenatal women until delivery from June 01 to November 30, 2015. Main exposure variable was husband’s involvement in at least one antenatal care visit, and outcome variable was women’s use of skilled attendants during birth. Data were analysed using SPSS software-version20. We computed univariate and bivariate analyses to describe characteristics of the study subjects. A chi-square test with p-value < 0.05 level of significance and logistic regression analyses with odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were computed to test homogeneity of the two groups’ baseline characteristics and examine the association between husbands’ involvement in antenatal care and women’s use of skilled attendants during birth. Model assessment of the regression equation was checked using a likelihood ratio test, score test, and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test.ResultsWomen who reported at least one antenatal care visit in which their husbands accompanied them were 6.27 times (95% Confidence interval: 4.2, 9.3) more likely to use skilled birth attendants compared to women attended antenatal care alone.ConclusionThere was a strong statistically significant association between husbands’ involvement during antenatal care and women’s use of skilled attendants during birth. This implies that woman’s utilization of skilled attendants during birth can be improved by involving their husbands in at least one antenatal care visit.
Highlights
There is limited evidence about husbands’ roles on women’s utilization of skilled maternity care in Ethiopia, a country with low utilization coverage of skilled birth attendants and high maternal mortality
Of 709 study participants, 54% (n1 = 385) reported at least one antenatal care (ANC) visit, in which they were accompanied by their husband whereas 46% (n2 = 324) reported that they were never accompanied by their husbands
On the first interview dates, women were asked about the total number of ANC visits and whether their husbands’ were involved in at least one or not
Summary
There is limited evidence about husbands’ roles on women’s utilization of skilled maternity care in Ethiopia, a country with low utilization coverage of skilled birth attendants and high maternal mortality. In 2015, approximately eight hundred and thirty women were dying every day due to pregnancy and childbirth complications Almost all these deaths (99%) occurred in low-resource settings, and more than half occur in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2,3]. There is no doubt that the country will need to make huge reductions in MMRs to meet the target of MDG5 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG3), a transformative new agenda for maternal health towards ending preventable maternal mortality [1]. This will require a great commitment from the government and its partners [5] with community effort
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