Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:42:04.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MEN IN MATERNAL CARE: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2011

APARAJITA CHATTOPADHYAY
APARAJITA CHATTOPADHYAY
Affiliation:
Department of Development Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Men's supportive stance is an essential component for making women's world better. There are growing debates among policymakers and researchers on the role of males in maternal health programmes, which is a big challenge in India where society is male driven. This study aims to look into the variations and determinants of maternal health care utilization in India and in three demographically and socioeconomically disparate states, namely Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra, by husband's knowledge, attitude, behaviour towards maternal health care and gender violence, using data from the National Family Health Survey III 2005–06 (equivalent to the Demographic and Health Survey in India). Women's antenatal care visits, institutional delivery and freedom in health care decisions are looked into, by applying descriptive statistics and multivariate models. Men's knowledge about pregnancy-related care and a positive gender attitude enhances maternal health care utilization and women's decision-making about their health care, while their presence during antenatal care visits markedly increases the chances of women's delivery in institutions. From a policy perspective, proper dissemination of knowledge about maternal health care among husbands and making the husband's presence obligatory during antenatal care visits will help primary health care units secure better male involvement in maternal health care.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 129 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Action Research in Community Health and Development (ARCH) (2000) Perceptions of male members about reproductive health matters: preliminary evidence from a tribal area of Gujarat. In Raju, S. & Leonard, A. (eds) Men as Supportive Partners in Reproductive Health: Moving from a Rhetoric to Reality. Population Council, New Delhi, India, pp. 14–15.Google Scholar
Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1980) Understanding Attitude and Predicting Social Behavior. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Balaiah, D. (1999) Contraceptive knowledge, attitude and practices of men in rural Maharashtra. Advances in Contraception 15(3), 217–234.Google Scholar
Bang, R. A. et al. (1989) High prevalence of gynaecological diseases in rural Indian women. Lancet 1(8629), 85–88.Google Scholar
Bankole, A. & Westoff, C. F. (1998) The consistency and predictive validity of reproductive attitudes. Journal of Biosocial Science 30(4), 439–455.Google Scholar
Barua, A., Pande, R. P., MacQuarrie, K. & Walia, S. (2004) Caring men? Husbands' involvement in maternal care of young wives. Economic and Political Weekly 52, 5661–5668.Google Scholar
Becker, S. (1996) Couple and reproductive health: a review of couple studies. Studies in Family Planning 27(6), 291–306.Google Scholar
Becker, S. & Costenbader, E. (2001) Husbands' and wives' reports of contraceptive use. Studies in Family Planning 32, 111–129.Google Scholar
Becker, S. & Robinson, J. C. (1998) Reproductive health care: services oriented to couples. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 61(3), 275–281.Google Scholar
Beegle, K. (2001) Bargaining power within couples and use of prenatal and delivery care in Indonesia. Studies in Family Planning 32(2), 130–146.Google Scholar
Bender, D., Santander, A., Balderrama, A., Arce, A. & Medini, R. (1995) Transforming the process of service delivery to reduce maternal mortality in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Reproductive Health Matters 3(6), 52–59.Google Scholar
Bhalerao, V. R. (1984) Contribution of the education of the prospective fathers to the success of maternal health care programme. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine 30(1), 10–12.Google Scholar
Bloom, S. S., Tsui, A. O., Plotkin, M. & Bassett, S. (2000) What husbands in northern India know about reproductive health: correlates of knowledge about pregnancy and maternal and sexual health. Journal of Biosocial Science 32(2), 237–251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caleb Varkey, L. (2001) Involving Men in their Wives' Antenatal and Postpartum Care in India. Research Update, Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program, Population Council, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Caleb Varkey, L., Mishra, A., Das, A., Ottolenghi, E., Huntington, D., Adamchak, S., Khan, M. E. & Homan, F. (2004) Involving Men in Maternity Care in India Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program. Population Council, New Delhi, India.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caleb Varkey, L. et al. (2002) Men in Maternity Study: Establishing the Intervention. Internal Process Report, Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Casper, L. M. & Hogan, D. P. (1990) Family networks in prenatal and postnatal health. Social Biology 37(1-2), 84–101.Google Scholar
Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ) (2009) Men, Gender Equality and Policy Response in India: An Exploration. A Summary Report. CHSJ. URL: CHSJ,http://www.chsj.org/media/Publications/MenPolicyMarch%20Report.pdf.Google Scholar
Chatterjee, N. & Riley, N. E. (2001) Planning of Indian modernity: the gender politics of fertility control. Journal of Women in Culture and Society 26(3), 811–845.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chattopadhyay, A. (2009) Why space matters in explaining women's status in Greater Bengal. Demography India 38(1), 35–52.Google Scholar
Chattopadhyay, A. & Goswami, B. (2007) Status of women in two Bengals: evidence from large scale surveys. Journal of Biosocial Science 39(2), 276–286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Ascoli, P. T., Alexander, G. R., Petersen, D. J. & Kogan, M. D. (1997) Parental factors influencing patterns of prenatal care utilization. Journal of Perinatology 17(4), 283–287.Google Scholar
Das, A. et al. (2002) Men in Maternity Study. Research Update. Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program, Population Council, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Drennan, M. (1998) Reproductive health: new perspectives on men's participation. Population Reports series J 46, 1–35.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, M. R. & Inhorn, M. C. (2004) Men's influences on women's reproductive health: medical anthropological perspectives. Social Science & Medicine 59, 1379–1395.Google Scholar
Dyson, T. & Moore, M. (1983) On kinship structure, female autonomy, and demographic behavior in India. Population and Development Review 9(1), 35–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ezeh, A. C. (1993) The influence of spouses over each other's contraceptive attitudes in Ghana. Studies in Family Planning 24(3), 163–174.Google Scholar
Ferdinand, D. L. (1996) Another side of quality. Reproductive Health Matters 7, 144–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, M. E. & Biddlecom, A. E. (2000) Absent and problematic men: demographic accounts of male reproductive roles. Population and Development Review 26(1), 81–115.Google Scholar
Gerein, N., Mayhew, S. & Lubben, A. (2003) A framework for a new approach to antenatal care. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 80(2), 175–182.Google Scholar
ICPD (1994) International Conference on Population and Development. ICPD, Cairo, Egypt. URL: http://www.un.org/popin/icpd2.htm.Google Scholar
IIPS & Macro International (2007) National Family Health Survey 2005–06, India, Vol. 1. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.Google Scholar
Jejeebhoy, S. J. (1998a) Associations between wife-beating and fetal and infant death: impressions from a survey in rural India. Studies in Family Planning 29(3), 300–308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jejeebhoy, S. J. (1998b) Wife-beating in rural India: a husband's right? Evidence from survey data. Economic and Political Weekly 33(15), 855–862.Google Scholar
Kaune, V. & Guillermo, S. (1998) Involving men in women's health care. World Health 51(1), 18–19.Google Scholar
Khan, M. E. (1997) Involving men in safe motherhood. Journal of Family Welfare 43, 18–30.Google Scholar
Koenig, M. A. et al. (1998) Investigating gynaecological morbidity in India: not just another KAP survey. Reproductive Health Matters 6(11), 84–97.Google Scholar
Krug, E. G. (2002) World Report on Violence and Health, Vol. 1. World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Ladusingh, L. & Singh, C. H. (2007) Rich–poor gap in maternal care: the case of northeast India. Asian Population Studies 3(1), 79–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lakhani, A. (2000) Involvement of husbands in antenatal care: evaluation of Deepak Charitable Trust's outreach programme. In Raju, S. & Leonard, A. (eds) Men as Supportive Partners in Reproductive Health: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality. Population Council, New Delhi, India, pp. 46–47.Google Scholar
MEDiCAM (2004) Male Involvement is Key to Reproductive Health. Reproductive Health Promotion Working Group. URL: http://www.engagingmen.net/files/resources/2010/RaymondBrandes/Male_involvement_in_reproductive_health.pdf.Google Scholar
Miller, W. B., Rochelle, N. S. & Pasta, D. J. (1991) Tubal sterilization or vasectomy: how do married couples make the choice? Fertility and Sterility 56(2), 278–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mullany, B. C. (2010) Spousal agreement on maternal health practices in Kathmandu, Nepal. Journal of Biosocial Science 42, 689–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nagawa, E. S. (1994) Absent husbands, unsupportive in-laws and rural African mothers. Reproductive Health Matters 4, 46–53.Google Scholar
Ormel, H. (1999) Can Men Make Motherhood Safer? An Inquiry into the Relevance and Risks of Increased Male Involvement in Safe Motherhood Initiatives. Public Health, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Oropesa, R. S., Landale, N. S., Inkley, M. & Gorman, B. K. (2000) Prenatal care among Puerto Ricans on the United States mainland. Social Science & Medicine 51(12), 1723–1739.Google Scholar
Pachauri, S. (2001) Male involvement in reproductive health care. Journal of Indian Medical Association 99(3), 138–141.Google Scholar
Pal, P. (2000) Working with men to improve reproductive health in a Delhi slum. In Raju, S. & Leonard, A.Men as Supportive Partners in Reproductive Health: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality. Population Council, New Delhi, India, pp. 26–27.Google Scholar
Population Council (2005) Mixed success involving men in maternal care worldwide. Population Briefs 11(1) URL: http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/factsheets/RH_MenInMaternalCare_A4.pdf.Google Scholar
Prevention of Maternal Mortality Network (1992) Barriers to treatment of obstetric emergencies in rural communities in West Africa. Studies in Family Planning 23(5), 279–291.Google Scholar
Ratto, K. (1998) Male Participation during Pregnancy and Birth, Male Participation in Sexual and Reproductive Health: New Paradigms. AVSC International, Oaxaca, Mexico.Google Scholar
Raju, S. & Leonard, A. (2000) Men as Supportive Partners in Reproductive Health: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality. Population Council, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Ransom, E. (2000) What role do men have in making motherhood safer? Questions researchers can ask. In Population Association of America Annual Meeting 2000.Google Scholar
Salam, A. & Siddiqui, S. A. (2006) Socioeconomic inequalities in use of delivery care services in India. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of India 56(2), 123–127.Google Scholar
Singh, A. & Ram, F. (2007) Men's involvement in maternal care during pregnancy and child birth in rural Maharashtra. In Population Association of America Annual Meeting 2007.Google Scholar
Singh, K. K. (1998) Husbands' reproductive health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour in Uttar Pradesh, India. Studies in Family Planning 29(4), 388–399.Google Scholar
Stolley, K. S. (1995) Male versus female sterilization: do spouses' resources impact which partner is sterilized? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stephenson, R., Koenig, M. A. & Saifuddin, A. (2006) Domestic violence and symptoms of gynecologic morbidity among women in north India. International Family Planning Perspectives 32(4), 201–208.Google Scholar
Srivastava, H. C. (2011) Determinants of male involvement as supportive partners in women's reproductive health. In Ram, F., Unisa, S. & Sekher, T. V. (eds) Population, Gender and Reproductive Health. Rawat, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Thaddeus, S. & Maine, D. (1994) Too far to walk: maternal mortality in context. Social Science & Medicine 38(8), 1091–1110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
UNFPA (1998) Male Involvement in Reproductive Health: Incorporating Gender throughout the Life Cycle. Occasional paper series No. 1, June 1998.Google Scholar
Walston, N. (2005) Challenges and Opportunities for Male Involvement in Reproductive Health. POLICY Project/Cambodia United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Cambodia.Google Scholar
White, V., Greene, M. & Murphy, E. (2003) Men and Reproductive Health Programs: Influencing Gender Norms. The Synergy Project. US Agency for International Development. URL: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACU969.pdf.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1998) Male Involvement in Reproductive Health: Incorporating Gender Throughout the Life Cycle. Technical Support Services System: Occasional Paper Series No. 1.Google Scholar