Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T09:55:41.741Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Supported motherhood? An examination of the cultural context of male participation in maternal health care among tribal communities in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2019

Suresh Jungari Open the ORCID record for Suresh Jungari [Opens in a new window]  and
Balram Paswan
Suresh Jungari*
Affiliation:
Interdiciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Balram Paswan
Affiliation:
International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In many cultural settings worldwide, within families, men tend to be responsible for important choices relating to the allocation of household resources and care-seeking behaviour that directly impact on the health of women and newborns. This study examines the extent of male participation in antenatal care (ANC), delivery, postnatal care (PNC), household chores and providing food to wives among tribal communities in India. In addition, health care providers’ views on male participation in maternal health were examined. Primary data were collected from 385 men aged 15–49 from rural Gadchiroli District in Maharashtra, India. Interviews of 385 men whose wives had delivered a child within the previous 2 years were conducted between November 2014 and March 2015. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were done. The results showed that the tribal men’s participation in maternal health care was minimal. Around 22% of the men reported accompanying their wives to ANC, 25% were present at the time of delivery of their children and 25% accompanied their wives to PNC. Participation in household work, and support for wives in other ways, were slightly better. The main reason given by men for not participating in maternal health care was that they didn’t think it was necessary, believing that all maternal health issues were women’s concern. Health care providers among these tribal communities in India should encourage men to participate in issues related to maternal health care.

Keywords

Maternal health careMale participationTribal men
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 452 - 471
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ampt, F, Mon, MM, Than, KK, Khin, MM, Agius, PA, Morgan, C and Luchters, S (2015) Correlates of male involvement in maternal and newborn health: a cross-sectional study of men in a peri-urban region of Myanmar. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 15(1), 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
August, F, Pembe, AB, Mpembeni, R, Axemo, P and Darj, E (2016) Community health workers can improve male involvement in maternal health: evidence from rural Tanzania. Global Health Action 9(1), 30064.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Awasthi, A, Nandan, D, Mehrotra, AK and Shankar, R (2008) Male participation in maternal care in urban slums of district Agra. Indian Journal of Preventative and Social Medicine 39(1), 3–4.Google Scholar
Barua, A, Pande, RP, MacQuarrie, K and Walia, S (2004) Caring men? Husbands’ involvement in maternal care of young wives. Economic and Political Weekly 39(52), 5661–5668.Google Scholar
Bishwajit, G, Tang, S, Yaya, S, Ide, S, Fu, H, Wang, M and Feng, Z (2017) Factors associated with male involvement in reproductive care in Bangladesh. BMC Public Health 17(1), 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borooah, VK, Sabharwal, NS and Thorat, S (2012) Gender and Caste-Based Inequality in Health Outcomes in India. Working Paper Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Carter, MW and Speizer, I (2005) Salvadoran fathers’ attendance at prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum care. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública 18, 149–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chattopadhyay, A (2012) Men in maternal care: evidence from India. Journal of Biosocial Science 44(2), 129–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowling, K, Dandona, R and Dandona, L (2014) Social determinants of health in India: progress and inequities across states. International Journal for Equity in Health 13(1), 88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dandona, L, Dandona, R, Kumar, GA, Shukla, DK, Paul, VK, Balakrishnan, Ket al. (2017) Nations within a nation: variations in epidemiological transition across the states of India, 1990–2016 in the Global Burden of Disease Study. The Lancet 390(10111), 2437–2460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ditekemena, J, Koole, O, Engmann, C, Matendo, R, Tshefu, A, Ryder, Ret al. (2012) Determinants of male involvement in maternal and child health services in sub-Saharan Africa: a review. Reproductive Health 9(1), 32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dumbaugh, M, Tawiah-Agyemang, C, Manu, A, Ten Asbroek, GH, Kirkwood, B and Hill, Z (2014) Perceptions of, attitudes towards and barriers to male involvement in newborn care in rural Ghana, West Africa: a qualitative analysis. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 14(1), 269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunlap, J, Foderingham, N, Bussell, S, Wester, CW, Audet, CM and Aliyu, MH (2014) Male involvement for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission: a brief review of initiatives in East, West, and Central Africa. Current HIV/AIDS Reports 11(2), 109–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dwivedi, R and Pradhan, J (2017) Does equity in healthcare spending exist among Indian states? Explaining regional variations from national sample survey data. International Journal for Equity in Health 16(1), 15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fotso, JC, Higgins-Steele, A and Mohanty, S (2015) Male engagement as a strategy to improve utilization and community-based delivery of maternal, newborn and child health services: evidence from an intervention in Odisha, India. BMC Health Services Research 15(1), S5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaikva, VS (2012) A qualitative study on men’s involvement in reproductive health of women among auto-rickshaw drivers in Bangalore Rural. Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences 11(1), 1–3.Google Scholar
Gallen, M, Liskin, L and Kak, N (1989) Men – New Focus for Family Planning Programs. Population Reports, Series J, No. 33. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Ghose, B, Feng, D, Tang, S, Yaya, S, He, Z, Udenigwe, Oet al. (2017) Women’s decision-making autonomy and utilisation of maternal healthcare services: results from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. BMJ Open 7(9), e017142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ICPD (1994) Frameworks on Male Involvement in Reproductive Health. International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, Egypt 1994.Google Scholar
IIPS and Macro International (2007) National Family Health Survey (NFHS), 2005–06, India. International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai.Google Scholar
Iliyasu, Z, Abubakar, IS, Galadanci, HS and Aliyu, MH (2010) Birth preparedness, complication readiness and fathers’ participation in maternity care in a northern Nigerian community. African Journal of Reproductive Health 14(1), 21–32.Google Scholar
Jayalakshmi, MS, Ambwani, K, Prabhakar, PK and Swain, P (2002) A study of male involvement in family planning. Health and Population Perspectives 25(3), 113–123.Google Scholar
Jungari, S and Bomble, P (2013) Caste-based social exclusion and health deprivation in India. Journal of Exclusion Studies 3(2), 84–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jungari, S and Chauhan, BG (2017) Caste, wealth and regional inequalities in health status of women and children in India. Contemporary Voice of Dalit 9(1), 87–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jungari, S and Paswan, B (2019) What he knows about her and how it affects her? Husband’s knowledge of pregnancy complications and maternal health care utilization among tribal population in Maharashtra, India. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 19(1), 70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kabagenyi, A, Jennings, L, Reid, A, Nalwadda, G, Ntozi, J and Atuyambe, L (2014) Barriers to male involvement in contraceptive uptake and reproductive health services: a qualitative study of men and women’s perceptions in two rural districts in Uganda. Reproductive Health 11(1), 21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kululanga, LI, Sundby, J and Chirwa, E (2011) Striving to promote male involvement in maternal health care in rural and urban settings in Malawi – a qualitative study. Reproductive Health 8(1), 36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kura, S, Vince, J and Crouch-Chivers, P (2013) Male involvement in sexual and reproductive health in the Mendi district, Southern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea: a descriptive study. Reproductive Health 10(1), 46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, S, Lee, A and Simkhada, P (2015) The role of husbands in maternal health and safe childbirth in rural Nepal: a qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 15(1), 162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Montgomery, AL, Ram, U, Kumar, R, Jha, P and Million Death Study Collaborators (2014) Maternal mortality in India: causes and healthcare service use based on a nationally representative survey. PLoS One 9(1), e83331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mullany, BC, Becker, S and Hindin, MJ (2006) The impact of including husbands in antenatal health education services on maternal health practices in urban Nepal: results from a randomized controlled trial Health Education Research 22(2), 166–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mullany, BC, Hindin, MJ and Becker, S (2005) Can women’s autonomy impede male involvement in pregnancy health in Katmandu, Nepal? Social Science & Medicine 61(9), 1993–2006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nyakato, V and Rwabukwali, CB (2013) Couple relations, decision-making hierarchy and use of maternal health care in rural Uganda. European Academic Research 1, 1216–1248.Google Scholar
Nyondo, AL, Choko, AT, Chimwaza, AF and Muula, AS (2015) Invitation cards during pregnancy enhance male partner involvement in prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Blantyre, Malawi: a randomized controlled open label trial. PLoS One 10(3), e0119273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radkar, A and Parasuraman, S (2007) Maternal deaths in India: an exploration. Economic and Political Weekly 42(31), 3259–3263.Google Scholar
Rahman, M, Islam, MT, Mostofa, MG and Reza, MS (2015) Men’s role in women’s antenatal health status: evidence from rural Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 27(2), NP1182–NP1192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rai, RK and Tulchinsky, TH (2015) Addressing the sluggish progress in reducing maternal mortality in India. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 27(2), NP1161–NP1169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saha, KB, Singh, N, Chatterjee Saha, U and Roy, J (2007) Male involvement in reproductive health among scheduled tribe: experience from Khairwars of central India. Rural Remote Health 7(2), 1–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanneving, L, Trygg, N, Saxena, D, Mavalankar, D and Thomsen, S (2013) Inequity in India: the case of maternal and reproductive health. Global Health Action 6(1), 19145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saroha, E, Altarac, M and Sibley, LM (2008) Caste and maternal health care service use among rural Hindu women in Maitha, Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health 53(5), e41–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, A and Arora, AK (2008) How much do rural Indian husbands care for the health of their wives’? Indian Journal of Community Medicine 33(1), 19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, A and Ram, F (2009) Men’s involvement during pregnancy and childbirth: evidence from rural Ahmadnagar, India. Population Review 48(1).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, D, Lample, M and Earnest, J (2014) The involvement of men in maternal health care: cross-sectional, pilot case studies from Maligita and Kibibi, Uganda. Reproductive Health 11(1), 68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Story, WT, Burgard, SA, Lori, JR, Taleb, F, Ali, NA and Hoque, DE (2012) Husbands’ involvement in delivery care utilization in rural Bangladesh: a qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 12(1), 28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swain, D (2015) Birth preparedness, complication readiness and participation in maternity care among men in a rural community, Odisha, India. International Journal of Nursing Education and Research 3(1), 56–63.Google Scholar
Thapa, DK and Niehof, A (2013) Women’s autonomy and husbands’ involvement in maternal health care in Nepal. Social Science & Medicine 93, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turinawe, EB, Rwemisisi, JT, Musinguzi, LK, de Groot, M, Muhangi, D, de Vries, DHet al. (2016) Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) as potential agents in promoting male involvement in maternity preparedness: insights from a rural community in Uganda. Reproductive Health 13(1), 24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vora, KS, Koblinsky, SA and Koblinsky, MA (2015) Predictors of maternal health services utilization by poor, rural women: a comparative study in Indian States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 33(1), 9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed