The Study of Male Involvement in Prenatal Care in Shahroud and Sabzevar, Iran

Male involvement like women empowerment and maternal health is one of the main strategies in achieving millennium development goals. To prepare the theoretical grounds necessary for male involvement, this descriptive study specifically aims to understand the prevalence and the forms of male involvement in maternal health. This is a descriptive-analytic study. Subjects consisted of women hospitalized for delivery in Shahrood and Sabsevar hospitals, Iran. Inclusion criteria were alive and healthy fetus. Exclusion criteria were illegal pregnancy. The questionnaires were completed by 507 women and 420 husbands. Data were analyzed using t-test, Pearson correlation and descriptive tests. 17% of men didn’t attend at the time of woman’s admission at the hospital. Low level of husband’s companionship to health centers, low male involvement in household tasks and receiving low health recommendation by husbands were reported by 25%, 33% and 61% of the women, respectively. 77% of men had a low level of knowledge concerning pregnancy complications; however, 93% of them were aware of their wives’ problems in pregnancy. The observed awareness of men of their wives’ problems in pregnancy and their companionship in receiving prenatal care indicates their high level of interest in pregnancy health; however, their low level of knowledge concerning pregnancy problems, women’s physical and psychological needs is an important barrier to male involvement in maternal health. Designing and providing reproductive health education programs for men seems to be necessary.