Publications

Women's ability to make decisions about their health is still hampered by socioeconomic, cultural, religious, andethnic inequities resulting from men's control over the family's finances, time allocation, and access to medicalcare. Despite playing vital roles in providing women with material, emotional, and physical support, maleinvolvement in maternal health services continues to challenge safe parenthood. Male partners should participatein maternity care to facilitate adequate treatment at appropriately equipped health facilities and reduce delays inreceiving appropriate care. This study assessed the level of male involvement in antenatal care and associatedfactors among women attending Antenatal care (ANC) at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital in Fort PortalCity, Western Uganda. The study employed a descriptive and analytic design, utilizing cross-sectionalquantitative methods of data collection. Data were entered using Microsoft Excel Version 13 and analyzed usingSTATA 14.0. Prior to data entry, the data was coded and cleaned to identify inconsistencies and missing values.Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between dependent andindependent variables. Descriptive statistics were presented in the form of frequency tables, pie charts, and graphs.In the present study, 224 (59.4%) participants were aged 21–30, and 310 (82.2%) were married. The majority hadattained secondary education (203, 53.8%), were Catholic (155, 41.1%), and had 3–4 children (189, 50.1%).Findings revealed that 263 (69.8%) had a low level of involvement, while 114 (30.2%) had a high level ofinvolvement. Additionally, 54.6% of participants demonstrated poor knowledge, while 45.4% exhibited goodknowledge about antenatal care. An observed association was found between age, marital status, level of education,employment status, decision-making capacity, monthly income, perceived attitude of health workers, privacy atantenatal clinics, and waiting time. The level of male involvement and knowledge about ANC remains suboptimal.Factors associated with male involvement include age, marital status, level of education, employment status,decision-making capacity, monthly income, attitude of healthcare providers, privacy at the antenatal clinic, andwaiting time.Keywords: Antenatal care, Birth preparedness, Marital status, Maternal death.