Male partners' involvement in antenatal care and its associated factors in West-central Ethiopia

Male partner involvement in antenatal care is a key factor that cannot be ignored in the quest for improvement in maternal health and is recommended as an essential intervention to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes. However, little attention has been given to male partners' involvement in maternity care, particularly in developing countries.

This study aimed to assess male partners' involvement in antenatal care and its associated factors among male partners whose wives gave birth within the last one-year in Bichena town, Westcentral, Ethiopia, 2019.

A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from October 1/2018 to June 15/2019, in Bichena town, among 406 male partners. The data was collected by a simple random sampling technique and analyzed using the Statistical Package of the Social Science 23.0 version. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to estimate the crude and adjusted odds ratio with a confidence interval of 95% and a P-value of < 0.05 considered statistically significant.

In this study, 53.4% [95% CI: 48.3- 58.1%] of male partners had high involvement in antenatal care. The age group of 20-29 years [AOR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.04-4.38], having primary, secondary, and diploma and above educational level [AOR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.02-4.07], [AOR = 3.02, 95% CI = 1.49-6.11] and [AOR = 4.03, 95% CI = 2.06-7.89] respectively, ≤ 10 years marriage length [AOR = 2.92, 95% CI = 1.46-5.87], good knowledge of the services provided in antenatal care [AOR = 2.68, 95%, CI = 1.62-4.42], good awareness of the danger signs of pregnancy [AOR = 1.77, 95 CI = 1.10-2.85], favorable attitude towards antenatal care [AOR = 2.62, 95% CI = 1.64-4.19], travel less than 15 min to reach a nearby health facility [AOR = 3.43, 95% CI = 1.54-7.65] and making decision together to seek care in health facility [AOR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.19-5.03] were associated with male partners involvement in antenatal care.

Male partners' involvement in antenatal care was encouraging in the study area compared to previous studies done in Ethiopia. We suggest strengthening awareness among male partners about their shared responsibility during pregnancy. Male partners should be invited to attend the antenatal care. Policymakers and healthcare planners should design programs and plans that will encourage male partners' involvement in maternal healthcare services utilization.