Gaur Rakhi, Rai Priyanka, Verma Bhavna, Suyal Neha, Patel Rashmi Bala
College of Nursing, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Deoghar, Jharkhand, India.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Deoghar, Jharkhand, India.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2025 Mar;14(3):900-907. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1416_24. Epub 2025 Mar 25.
India has observed a substantial reduction in its maternal mortality ratio, dropping from 130 in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20, there is a pressing need to further enhance maternal safety and minimize mortality rates. To expedite these efforts, involving husbands as labor companions during childbirth is crucial. This research aimed to assess women's desirability and the perceived barriers regarding the presence of their husbands as companions during labor in India.
Focusing on a cross-sectional design, we opted for a sample of 402 pregnant women using a nonprobability convenient sampling technique. The participants were 18 years and older, in any trimester of pregnancy, and had previously attended antenatal clinics (ANC) at specific hospitals in Jharkhand. Data collection was done through a self-structured questionnaire, and both descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted.
Most of the participants (84.07%) desired companionship with husband during labor. Top three perceived barriers reported by participants were, companionship with females only since ancient times (93.0%), hospital policies (92.0%), and inconvenient for other laboring women due to presence of male (90.5%). Educational level, area of residence, and age were significantly associated with almost all components of desirability with husband's companionship ( < 0.05).
In Western countries, the idea of having partners present during labor and delivery is widely accepted. However, in Indian settings, stakeholders must work on formulating a proficient childbirth policy that promotes the participation of male partners, incorporating them into the process as well.
印度的孕产妇死亡率已大幅下降，从2014 - 2016年的每10万例活产130例降至2018 - 2020年的97例，因此迫切需要进一步提高孕产妇安全性并降低死亡率。为加快这些努力，让丈夫作为分娩时的陪伴者至关重要。本研究旨在评估印度女性对于丈夫在分娩时作为陪伴者的意愿以及所感知到的障碍。
采用横断面设计，我们使用非概率便利抽样技术选取了402名孕妇作为样本。参与者年龄在18岁及以上，处于孕期的任何阶段，且此前曾在恰尔肯德邦的特定医院参加过产前检查（ANC）。通过自行编制的问卷进行数据收集，并进行了描述性和推断性分析。
大多数参与者（84.07%）希望在分娩时有丈夫陪伴。参与者报告的前三大感知障碍分别是，自古以来只允许女性陪伴（93.0%）、医院政策（92.0%）以及男性在场会给其他分娩女性带来不便（90.5%）。教育水平、居住地区和年龄与几乎所有关于丈夫陪伴意愿的组成部分均显著相关（<0.05）。
在西方国家，分娩时伴侣在场的观念已被广泛接受。然而，在印度的环境中，利益相关者必须致力于制定一项完善的分娩政策，以促进男性伴侣的参与，并将他们纳入分娩过程。
