Involving Male Partners in Maternity Care - Better Adherence to Healthy Practices after Childbirth

Strategy researched

A set of educational sessions designed to involve the male partners of pregnant women in facility-based maternity care in order to influence care-seeking, healthy breastfeeding, and contraceptive practices after childbirth

Impact achieved

The intervention group showed an 11.7% increase in attendance at 2 or more scheduled, outpatient postnatal care consultations, an 11.4% increase in exclusive breastfeeding, and a 6.4% increase of effective modern contraception use, compared to the control group. There also was an 8.1% increase in the use of long-acting contraception for pregnant women who received interactive group educational sessions, among other similar results.

Country of study

Burkina Faso

Research methodology

RCT

Journal

Bulletin of the World Health Organization; July 2018

Journal paper title and link

Involving male partners in maternity care in Burkina Faso: a randomized controlled trial

Excerpt from Abstract

"Involving men as supportive partners in maternity care was associated with better adherence to recommended healthy practices after childbirth."

Summary at this link