Attitude of pregnant women towards male involvement in birth preparedness and complication readiness in selected rural communities of Sokoto state, northwest Nigeria

Background: Poor involvement of male partners in maternal health issues has been identified as one of the major contributors of high maternal mortality in developing countries. Women from diverse socio-cultural background have varying opinions on the level of involvement of their male partners in their reproductive health matters. This study assessed the attitude of pregnant women towards the involvement of their male partners in birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPCR) in selected rural communities of Sokoto state, northwest Nigeria. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study design was used to study 268 pregnant women who were selected from two rural communities via a multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. Results: Mean age of respondents was 26.45 ±6.29 years; majority [202(75.4%)] were of the Hausa ethnic group and only 39(14.6%) had formal education. Up to 178(66.4%) of the women agreed it is important for men to prepare for childbirth, 180(67.2%) agreed male partners should make joint decision with wife on matters concerning pregnancy; however, less than half [116(43.4%)] agreed it is important for women to deliver in the hospital and 35.4% believed it is not important for men to accompany wives to hospital for delivery. Overall, 173(65%) had positive attitude towards husbands' involvement in BPCR and the major influencing factors were literacy, knowledge of danger signs and BPCR (p<0.001) Conclusion/Recommendations: Though up to two-thirds of the respondents had positive attitude, a significant proportion expressed negative attitude towards some male involvement practices. There is need for government to educate more women especially on the importance of male involvement in BPCR. Key words:Attitude, pregnant women, male involvement, birth preparedness, Sokoto