TY - JOUR
T1 - Does involving male partners in antenatal care improve healthcare utilisation?
T2 - Systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature from low- and middle-income countries
AU - Suandi, Dedih
AU - Williams, Pauline
AU - Bhattacharya, Sohinee
N1 - This work was supported by the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), Ministry of Finance, Republic of Indonesia (grant no. 20160612046995).
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - BACKGROUND: Although in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) men are decision makers and control the household budget, their involvement in maternity care is limited. Reports from high-income countries indicate a beneficial effect of involving men in antenatal and delivery care on birth outcomes.METHODS: We conducted a systematic review to assess whether similar effects are observed in LMICs. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, NCBI, PsycInfo and other relevant databases using a comprehensive search strategy to retrieve relevant articles. A total of 17 articles were included. Meta-analysis of extracted data was performed, using the generic inverse variance method where possible. All studies were conducted in South Asia and Africa.RESULTS: We found that involving a male partner in antenatal care was associated with skilled birth attendance utilization (pooled OR 3.19 [95% CI 1.55 to 6.55]), having institutional delivery (OR 2.76 [95% CI 1.70 to 4.50]) and post-partum visit uptake (OR 2.13 [95% CI 1.45 to 3.13]). Mother's knowledge of danger signs and modern contraception utilization were also positively affected. However, it had no significant impact on the number of antenatal visits.CONCLUSIONS: Male involvement in antenatal care had a positive impact on the uptake of maternal health services. Further research needs to investigate whether this translates into improved maternal and newborn health in developing countries.
AB - BACKGROUND: Although in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) men are decision makers and control the household budget, their involvement in maternity care is limited. Reports from high-income countries indicate a beneficial effect of involving men in antenatal and delivery care on birth outcomes.METHODS: We conducted a systematic review to assess whether similar effects are observed in LMICs. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, NCBI, PsycInfo and other relevant databases using a comprehensive search strategy to retrieve relevant articles. A total of 17 articles were included. Meta-analysis of extracted data was performed, using the generic inverse variance method where possible. All studies were conducted in South Asia and Africa.RESULTS: We found that involving a male partner in antenatal care was associated with skilled birth attendance utilization (pooled OR 3.19 [95% CI 1.55 to 6.55]), having institutional delivery (OR 2.76 [95% CI 1.70 to 4.50]) and post-partum visit uptake (OR 2.13 [95% CI 1.45 to 3.13]). Mother's knowledge of danger signs and modern contraception utilization were also positively affected. However, it had no significant impact on the number of antenatal visits.CONCLUSIONS: Male involvement in antenatal care had a positive impact on the uptake of maternal health services. Further research needs to investigate whether this translates into improved maternal and newborn health in developing countries.
KW - antenatal care
KW - developing countries
KW - male partner involvement
KW - maternal health
KW - newborn health
KW - women's health
U2 - 10.1093/inthealth/ihz073
DO - 10.1093/inthealth/ihz073
M3 - Article
C2 - 31613327
JO - International Health
JF - International Health
SN - 1876-3413
M1 - ihz073
ER -