Prevalence of husband antenatal care attendance and associated factors among husbands whose wives gave birth in the last twelve months in Enebsiesarmider District, Northwest Ethiopia, 2018.

Abstract

Background Globally, husband attendance of skilled maternal ANC care remains a challenge to safe motherhood. Even though husband attendance in antenatal care is one of the strategies for enhancing reproductive and sexual health in Ethiopia, the magnitude of husband attendance in ANC is not well investigated in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess husband antenatal care attendance and associated factors among husbands whose wives gave birth in the last twelve months prior to the study in Enebsiesarmider district, Northwest Ethiopia.Methods A Community-based cross-sectional study was employed to assess husband antenatal care attendance and associated factors among husbands whose wives gave birth in the last twelve months in Enebsiesarmider district, Northwest Ethiopia. The study was conducted from February 10-March 10, 2018. A total of 402 participants were involved in the study. Multi stage sampling method was used to recruit study participants. Data were collected using structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were entered using epi Data software and exported to SPPS for analysis. Descriptive statistics including mean, proportion were used to describe study variables. Binary and multivariable logistic regression was employed to describe variables in relation to the outcome variable.Result: The prevalence of husband antenatal care attendance was found to be 31.8% [95%CI, 27.4-36.3]. Attending secondary education and above [AOR 1.93, 95%CI, 1.14-3.26], good antenatal care knowledge [AOR 3.30, 95%CI, 2.02-5.39] and hadn’t health system barriers [AOR 2.32, 95%CI, 1.35-4.00] were statistically associated with husband antenatal care attendance.Conclusion Husband ANC attendance was found to be low in the study area. Regional health department shall design behavioral change interventions to reducing health system pitfalls towards ANC in the study area, furthermore, enabling all pregnant women to be booked for ANC and providing invitation letter to their husbands in the subsequent ANC visits seems essential to initiate husband ANC attendance.

Male Engagement in Antenatal Care and Associated Factors among Married Men with Wives Who Recently Gave Birth in Debretabor Town, North West Ethiopia

“…In contrast, our study's result surpasses ndings from Wakiso District, Uganda (6%), Harari (19.7%), and North West Ethiopia (31.8%) [5,7,23]. This disparity might be attributed to advancements in the Ethiopian healthcare system, emphasizing maternal, newborn, and child health.…”

“…Regarding independent variables, attending secondary education or holding a diploma and above increased the odds of male involvement by approximately 4 and 4.2 times, respectively [6,7,30]. This nding aligns with similar studies in Nigeria, Bale, and North West Ethiopia, suggesting that education enhances knowledge and coping abilities, potentially enabling husbands to better understand their role in pregnancy.…”

“…In many parts of the world, societal norms often designate men, older women, and families as key decision-makers regarding women's health, child health, and primary providers of emotional and nancial support [7,8]. African countries, in particular, have observed increased maternal health service utilization with greater male participation in ANC, leading to positive outcomes such as improved knowledge of danger signs, enhanced utilization of skilled birth attendants, and reduced stress and anxiety during labor [9,10].…”