Abstract:
Objective: To determine whether there is a relationship between male involvement in maternal health and utilization of skilled birth attendants (SBAs) after controlling for socio-demographic and maternal characteristics.
Design: Data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey(KDHS) conducted in 2008–09 were analyzed. We fitted an unadjusted logistic regression model and, to control for confounders, an adjusted binary logistic regression model to look for associations between utilization of an SBA, on one hand, and, on the other, socio-demographic characteristics of the
woman, male perceptions about maternal health, and male attendance at an antenatal care (ANC) visit.
Setting: Nationally representative survey in Kenya.
Subjects: The unit of analysis was couples who met the inclusion criteria of being married and having had a child in the three years before the survey. To ensure that the couples were reporting on the same child, we picked couples who gave the same age for their last child. The final weighted sample size was 730 couples.
Results: The adjusted odds ratio after controlling for other factors indicates that women whose husbands attended at least one ANC visit were more likely to have skilled birth attendance than those whose husbands did not attend any ANC visits [AOR, 1.9; 95 percent CI, 1.09-3.32]. Maternal characteristics that had a statistically significant association with
delivery by an SBA included educational level, employment, number of ANC visits, and parity. The province where the couple resided also was statistically significant.
Conclusion: In Kenya a male partner’s participation, through attending ANC visits, is associated with a woman’s use of an SBA during delivery.