Male Involvement in Maternal Health Care in Jimeta Metropolis, Adamawa State, Nigeria

This study was aimed to examine men’s knowledge and perception in Maternal Health care at Jimeta Metropolis of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Male involvement in maternal health care, factors affecting male involvement in maternal health care and perceived effects of male involvement in maternal health care were explored. This was a cross sectional descriptive study. A multistage cluster sampling technique was adopted for the study. A total of 370 respondents were included with a response rate of 92.7%. Included participants were men of reproductive age residing in Jimeta Metropolis. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 21. Result of the study showed poor knowledge about maternal health care as majority (70.8%) of the respondents were not aware of the number of times a woman should attend antenatal clinic, 60.5% did not know the services offered for women and 58.9% did not know the danger signs of pregnancy. Result on male involvement showed that, more than half (56.8%) of the men gave consent to their wives to attend antenatal clinic, 76.5% gave consent for their wives to go for delivery in a health facility, 43.4% allowed their wives to attend post-natal clinic and 52.1% provided fund for delivery for their wives. Religious/cultural factors (28.2%) and ignorance (25.9%) were found to be the most likely reasons for men not participating in maternal health care. Although their overall knowledge of the type of maternal health services was above average (58%), no association was found between knowledge and male involvement in maternal health care (P=0.062). ). A significant difference was observed between educational attainment, ethnicity with male involvement in maternal health care (x2 =26.43, p value <0.0001 and ethnicity X=47.24 , p value <0.0001 respectively. Health workers attitude towards male involvement in maternal health care was not statistically significant with x =1,477, p-value = 0.224. There was an association between couples joint decision making and male involvement in maternal health care, x=63.3, p value=0.0001. Joint decision made by couples was discovered to be a positive factor in male involvement in maternal healthcare. It was therefore recommended that, male involvement should be encouraged at all levels of healthcare. Invitation letters should be given to women attending maternal health service centres to invite their partners for more enlightenment and effective communication between couples, thereby encouraging joint decision making.