Supporting partners during pregnancy
Increasing male involvement in helping pregnant partners stay healthy has been reported as one way to improve access to and use of maternal health services, including birth preparation and preparing for complications.
Men can play a meaningful role in providing pregnant women with the support they need to stay in better health.
In Rwanda, men play a variety of roles, resulting in diverse expectations and responsibilities to support women's health during this time of crisis. This study aimed to examine women's views, perspectives and experiences of men's involvement in maternal health and how this affects their access to and use of maternal health services.
Partner health during pregnancy.
Twenty-one interviews were conducted with pregnant and recently pregnant women in order to understand their views on men's involvement in promoting their health.
The interviews were conducted across five districts in Rwanda, in both rural and urban settings of the country, and data analysis was guided by a thematic analysis approach.
A coding scheme was created and transcripts were coded in NVIVO™ software according to conceptual and practical topics that shaped the understanding of men's involvement in maternal care.
Results.
Three main themes emerged from the analysis process that categorized the specific roles men play in maternal health.
1) Facilitating access to maternal health services.
2) Support women's decisions and assist men to access health care as they decide.
3) Evaluate information from multiple sources to assist women in making informed decisions.
In conclusion, the study found that pregnant women experienced one of the above mentioned roles of men to help them make positive decisions and improve their health.
Tuyisenge, G., Crooks, V.A. & Berry, N.S. "He lets me go although he does not go with me": Rwandan women's perceptions of men's roles in maternal health. glob health res policy 6, 2 (2021). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-020-00185-w
Conclusion
This study shows that Rwandan men tend to offer the kind of support described above to their pregnant partners. It is unclear which support methods are preferred, but other studies have reported the behavior of men who do not support access to health except in emergencies, or only support financially, and support methods seem to vary across countries and regions.
Depending on one's point of view and culture, such behaviors may have been customary in the past, so it may not be possible to criticize men who only provide financial or emergency support. And the support in the study could be seen as an economic loss, as men stop their economic activities and access health information with their partners.
However, it depends on how you look at it, and it can be seen as an investment in men's participation in women's healthy activities, as well as a response to possible future situations. Since there seems to be a wide range of requests from women, it would be desirable for partners to discuss and decide on their own, but it is also possible to think that actions such as those in the study are appropriate.
For me personally, I would take a day off to attend XX classes or medical checkups and accompany my partner as much as possible, but it was mainly my partner who did the information gathering.
