Furaha August|Andrea B. Pembe|Rose Mpembeni|Pia Axemo|Elisabeth Darj
Community health workers can improve male involvement in maternal health: evidence from rural Tanzania
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences|Uppsala University|Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences|Uppsala University|Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences|Uppsala University|Uppsala University|Norwegian University of Science and Technology
male involvement maternal health recommended one interventions improve maternal newborn health challenges realising action partly due position men society partly due health system challenges accommodating men aim study therefore evaluate effect home based life saving skills training community health workers improving male involvement maternal health terms knowledge danger signs joint decisionmaking birth preparedness escorting wives antenatal delivery care rural community tanzaniaa communitybased intervention consisting educating community home based life saving skills community health workers implemented using one district intervention district another comparison district prepostintervention using quasiexperimental design used evaluate effect home based life saving skills training male involvement place delivery partners effect intervention determined using difference differences analysis intervention comparison data baseline end linethe results show improvement male involvement 392 vs 809 net intervention effect 411 confidence interval ci 285538 p 00001 improvement knowledge danger signs pregnancy childbirth postpartum periods proportion men accompanying wives antenatal delivery also improved shared decisionmaking place delivery improved markedly 468 vs 867 showing net effect 385 ci 280491 p 00001 although facility delivery spouses participants improved intervention district show statistical significance compared comparison district net intervention effect 122 95 ci 28271 p0103this communitybased intervention employing community health workers educate community home based life saving skills programme feasible effective improving male involvement maternal healthcare