Level of Male Partner Involvement in Antenatal Visits in the Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

Abstract

Background: Male partners' participation in Maternal Health Care has been characterized by the United Nations Organization as actions done to bring about the social and behavioral changes necessary for men to play more responsible roles in Maternal Health Care to safeguard the wellbeing of women and children. Various factors that influence male partners‟ support and general involvement in ANC are revealed in different geographical settings. Objective: This study assessed barriers male partner involvement in Antenatal visits in the Ningo-Prampram District. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A structured questionnaire was used. Also, a simple random sampling technique was used to select 430 eligible men for this study. Chi-square test was performed to determine any association between independent and dependent variables. The predictors of male involvement and knowledge on ANC were identified using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models. A P-value <0.05 were considered to determine statistical significance. Finally, adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to determine the strength of association of variables. Findings: In this study, perceived lack of knowledge was associated with ANC, with males who disagreed to this claim having 3.3 more odds than those who agreed [aOR(95%CI)p-value = 3.3(1.13-9.49)0.029]. In addition, peers influence was one of the barriers to male involvement in ANC, but respondents who disagreed to this had 5.9 more odds to involve in it than respondents who agreed [aOR(95%CI)p-value = 5.9(1.44-24.21)0.014]. It was further found that respondents who were neural or totally disagreed that they felt shy in involving in ANC had 10% each less odds in involving in ANC [aOR (95%CI) p-value = 0.1(0.01-0.43)0.004 & 0.1(0.03-0.54)0.006 respectively]. A greater proportion of the respondents, 419 (98.8%) were found to have good level of knowledge about ANC and its related activities. The factors which were associated with level of knowledge among respondents in this study were religion (X2=17.98, P-value=0.000), educational level (X2=21.50, P-value=0.000), and number of partners (X2=17.28, P value=0.000). Conclusion: Respondents had good level of knowledge about ANC (98.8%) and were involved in various ANC activities (85.4%). However, there some barriers like family cultures (88.9%), work schedule (84.9%), and lack of knowledge on ANC (44.8%).