ISSN : 2663-2187

INVOLVEMENT OF MALES IN MATERNAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN RWAMAGANA DISTRICT, RWANDA

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George NZARAMBA, Dr Alphonse HABINEZA
» doi: doi:10.48047/AFJBS.7.5.2025.595-617

Abstract

Worldwide, the involvement of males in maternal health care has emerged as a critical factor influencing the effectiveness and accessibility of these services. Involving men in maternity care was identified as important tool for improving health of mothers and dipping maternal mortality. Engaging men in maternal healthcare provides an opportunity for them and other family members to gain insight into and accept the discomfort and tiredness that women endure during pregnancy. To improve the health of the mothers, men can play an important role to support systems that pregnant women require. Men's participation in MHC has been low despite several advantages of the MHC services to mothers and their and babies. The primary goal of this project is to identify the factors having an impact on limited men's participation in MHC services in Rwamagana district. The research employed a cross-sectional approach. The targeted population is made of women seeking MHC services at Rwamagana HC and AVEGA HC whose number is 2925. The sample size is made of 385 mothers determined by the Fischer formula. Simple random and stratified sampling techniques were used. SPSS 21 was used to conduct various statistical analyses for the study, including significance analysis to determine the significance in terms statistics of the relationships between variables. The findings showed that men involvement in MCH services was 36.4%. The study found that men aged 21-35 have 3 times more chances of being involved in matters related to maternal and child health (MCH) services compared to younger men (AOR=3.0, 95% CI: 1.726, 5.291, P=0.001), those living within a 30-minute distance from a health facility had 3.1 times more chances of being involved than those living over an hour away (AOR=3.1, 95% CI: 2.592, 8.205, P=0.001), married men had six times more chances of being involved than unmarried men (AOR=6.1, 95% CI: 2.672, 8.372, P=0.001), university-educated men were twice as likely to be involved as uneducated men (AOR=2.8, 95% CI: 1.338, 6.005, P<0.007), men earning over 500,000 Rwf monthly had six times more chances of being involved than those earning under 15,000 Rwf (AOR=6.8, 95% CI: 3.357, 9.108, P=0.001), employed husbands had seven times more chances of being involved than unemployed husbands (AOR=6.9, 95% CI: 2.311, 12.910, P=0.001), and husbands who planned the pregnancy with their wives were twice as likely to be involved in MCH services (AOR=2.6, 95% CI: 1.736, 4.132, P=0.001); the study revealed a low overall level of male involvement in MCH services and recommends enhancing health facility accessibility and promoting education and awareness programs to address this issue

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