Male Partners’ Involvement in Maternal Health Care in Kpone Sub-Municipality

ABSTRACT

Background Male involvement in maternal healthcare has become critical given that men as the heads of the family control the finances, are decision-makers and provide emotional and social support which directly influence the antenatal, delivery, and post-natal care. Male involvement can, therefore, have diverse positive effects on maternal health in the form of reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality. In Kpone Sub-Municipality where poor maternal outcomes are still recorded, it is imperative to quantify the level of male involvement in maternal healthcare and examine the factors influencing male involvement in maternal healthcare. Objective This study, therefore, sought to quantify the level of male involvement and to evaluate the factors influencing male involvement during the antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted through a community-based survey in the Kpone Sub-Municipality. Three hundred and ninety-one (391) women were selected through a two-staged sampling technique and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and their male partners were studied. A Pearson Chi-square test was used to determine the association between sociodemographic characteristics of male partners and their involvement in maternal healthcare. Results The modal age group of respondents was 18-29 years recording about 56% and that of the male partners 30-39 years representing about 48%. Sociodemographic characteristics example age, xiv educational level, marital status, number of children, religion and employment status, all had statistical significance (p-value of ≤ 0.001) with level of male partner involvement during antenatal care, intrapartum care and postnatal care period. About 15% of male partners had low level of involvement in antenatal care, about 50% of men had moderate level of involvement in antenatal care and about 36 % of male partners had high level of involvement in antenatal care. During the intrapartum care period, the proportion of men involved was about 12% for low involvement, about 25% for moderate level of involvement and about 62% for high level of male involvement. In the postnatal care period, about 13% of men were graded as having low level of male involvement, about 29% recorded moderate level of male involvement and about 58% recorded high level of male involvement. Conclusion The proportion of men in male involvement in maternal healthcare was highest during the intrapartum care period in Kpone Sub-Municipality. Sociodemographic characteristics of male partners are critical in the determination of male support towards maternal health during antenatal care, intrapartum care and postnatal care periods and these can possibly serve as tools through which men could be encouraged to offer support towards reproductive health issues of women and family to a large extent.