Abstract
Background Evidence suggests that in patriarchal societies such as Ghana, access to and survival of maternal and child healthcare services require the active involvement of men. However, interventions to promote men's involvement in maternal and child health care are less likely to succeed if the views and concerns of women are not considered. This study provides an understanding of women's perspective on men's involvement in antenatal care, labour, and childbirth in the Northern Region of Ghana. Methods Data for this cross‐sectional study were collected from 300 pregnant women using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression models were then used to determine the socio‐demographic factors associated with women's perspectives on men's involvement in antenatal care, labour, and childbirth. Results The mean age of the participants was 28 (SD = 5.21) years. More than four-fifths of the women in this study express the desire for male partner involment in natenatal care (ANC) services (n = 258, 86%) and as companions during labour and child birth (n = 254, 84.7%). We found that married women were 9.8 times more likely (95%CI 1.59, 60.81) to encourage male involvement in ANC compared to women who were unmarried. The probability of encouraging male involvement in ANC decreased with increased level of education among the women while support for male companionship during childbirth increased significantly with an increased level of education. After accounting for the effect of other significant covariates, there was good evidence to suggest that married women (p = 0.002), women with only primary/Junior High School education (p = 0.048) and those with two (p = 0.010), three (p = 0.008), or ≥4 (p = 0.044) previous pregnancies had a desire for male partner involvement in ANC while women who attained secondary (p = 0.004) or tertiary (p = 0.001) level education expressed the desire for male companionship in labour and childbirth in the adjusted model. Conclusion Male involvement in antenatal care, labour, and childbirth received overwhelming support from the women in this study.
Highlights
Evidence suggests that in patriarchal societies such as Ghana, access to and survival of maternal and child healthcare services require the active involvement of men
We observed that the probability of encouraging male involvement in antenatal care (ANC) decreased with increased level of education of women: primary/JHS secondary, and tertiary
A er accounting for the effect of other significant covariates, there was good evidence to suggest that married women (p= 0.002), women with only primary/Junior High School education (p=0.048) and those with two (p= 0.010), three (p= 0.008), or ≥4 (p= 0.044) previous pregnancies had a desire for male partner involvement in ANC
Summary
A woman’s probability of death due to pregnancy is unacceptably high in low and middle‐income countries than in high‐ income countries [1]. Is study provides an understanding of women’s perspective on men’s involvement in antenatal care, labour, and childbirth in the Northern Region of Ghana. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants on socio‐ demographic characteristics such as age, marital status, religion, ethnicity, educational level, and occupation; male involvement in antenatal care; and male partner companionship during labour and childbirth. E univariate logistic regression was applied in the initial analysis and factors with p value < .05 were selected for inclusion in the multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine independent predictors of women’s perspectives on men’s involvement in antenatal care, labour, and childbirth In both the Univariate and multivariable regression models, the significance level was set at
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