School of Public Health, University of Zambia, PO Box 50110, Lusaka, Zambia.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2019 Jul 8;19(1):463. doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4294-8.
Male partner participation in antenatal care (ANC) is important and contributes to better maternal and neonatal birth outcomes. Studies have been conducted to explore male participation in ANC and barriers to participation. However, these studies have been conducted in the general population and not the military settings, which are gendered institutions. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of male participation in ANC in a military setting.
A qualitative case study approach using convenient sampling was used to enlist sixteen (n = 16) military men whose partners or wives were attending ANC. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants to get their perspectives on their participation in ANC. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and codes, categories and themes were generated from the data. Data analysis was done manually and was guided by thematic framework analysis approach. We designed a table which listed all emerging themes, categories and sub-themes.
Participants were aged 27-45 years and some attained tertiary education. Five themes emerged to explain the perspectives of male participation in ANC. Men's roles were perceived to be limited to provision of appropriate food and supplies, physical and emotional support. Generally, ANC attendance was considered a woman's private activity because even health care providers were mostly female. However, the desire to have a healthy baby prompted many to seek information on ANC. On the other hand, priority given to couples attending ANC and the need to be part of the decision making motivated some to participate. For the participants in this study, military operations, fear of being tested for HIV and the belief that presence of men in ANC interferes with care made them shun the services.
Lack of awareness on the importance of male participation in ANC impacted on the understanding of access and use of services by participants. The study has practical implications in the military institution to formulate policy on male participation in ANC to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes as well as support staff who have to attend to their pregnant wives or partners.
男性伴侣参与产前护理（ANC）很重要，有助于改善母婴和新生儿的分娩结果。已经进行了研究来探索男性参与 ANC 以及参与的障碍。然而，这些研究是在普通人群中进行的，而不是在军队环境中进行的，军队是一个有性别差异的机构。本研究旨在探索军队环境中男性参与 ANC 的观点。
使用便利抽样的定性案例研究方法，招募了 16 名（n=16）其伴侣正在接受 ANC 的军人男性。对参与者进行深入访谈，以了解他们对参与 ANC 的看法。访谈逐字记录，并从数据中生成代码、类别和主题。数据分析是手动进行的，并遵循主题框架分析方法。我们设计了一个表格，列出了所有新出现的主题、类别和子主题。
参与者的年龄在 27-45 岁之间，有些接受过高等教育。出现了五个主题来解释男性参与 ANC 的观点。男性的角色被认为仅限于提供适当的食物和用品、身体和情感支持。一般来说，ANC 就诊被认为是女性的私人活动，因为即使是医疗保健提供者也大多是女性。然而，许多人希望拥有一个健康的婴儿，因此寻求有关 ANC 的信息。另一方面，许多人希望优先考虑夫妇参加 ANC，并需要参与决策，这促使他们参与。对于本研究的参与者来说，军事行动、害怕接受 HIV 检测以及认为男性在 ANC 中的存在会干扰护理，这使他们回避了这些服务。
缺乏对男性参与 ANC 的重要性的认识，影响了参与者对获取和使用服务的理解。这项研究对军队机构具有实际意义，因为它制定了关于男性参与 ANC 的政策，以改善母婴和新生儿的健康结果，并支持那些必须照顾怀孕的妻子或伴侣的工作人员。
