Articles

Status And Determinant of Men’s Knowledge Towards Family Planning Techniques in Nsit Atai Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

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This study investigates married men’s knowledge of family planning techniques and the demographic factors influencing their understanding and use of contraception in Nsit Atai Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Data was collected from 97 respondents through a structured questionnaire that covered their demographics, knowledge of family planning, and constraints to adoption. The sampling method involved simple random selection during church gatherings and visits to healthcare centers. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that most respondents had high knowledge of barrier methods (e.g., condoms), with 80.4% reporting well-known awareness. However, awareness of other methods, like intrauterine devices (IUCDs) and sterilization, was lower, with only 32% and 37.1% reporting well-known knowledge, respectively. Significant factors influencing knowledge included age, marital duration, number of children, and the number of male children. The correlation analysis revealed strong relationships between knowledge and age (r = 0.503), and the number of male children (r = 0.630). Cultural and religious beliefs, especially among Christian respondents (82.5%), were key constraints to family planning adoption, with 19.3% citing fear of side effects and 17.2% thinking that contraception was only for women. The study also identified the influence of household size, with larger families showing less willingness to adopt family planning. The results underscore the importance of culturally tailored family planning education and improving access to family planning services. The study advocates for greater male involvement in reproductive health and community-driven awareness campaigns to overcome barriers to contraception use.

Gender Norms, Attitudes and Perceptions towards Male Involvement in Maternal Health in Kafue District, Lusaka

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Male involvement in maternal health remains a major issue despite efforts by the international community. Despite the many benefits of male involvement in antenatal care there has been an observed low participation. Community gender norms, attitudes and perceptions towards male involvement in maternal health may affect the utilization of services offered by health facilities. The gap observed in many studies is that the attitude and perception of men regarding maternal health have largely been neglected. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the gender norms, attitudes and perceptions towards male involvement in maternal health in Kafue district of Zambia. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Both quantitative and qualitative paradigms were utilized in this study. A sample of 150 participants was used. Data was collected by the help of questionnaire and in-depth interviews.

Results showed that respondents from Kafue were knowledgeable on antenatal care. Additionally, it was also revealed that respondents had a positive attitude towards male involvement in maternal health. However, due to gender norms their roles were limited when it came to delivery and child care. Nevertheless, the findings showed that men were involved in supporting their wives and helping out with house chores and providing money for antenatal care, skilled birth at a hospital, postnatal care, childcare and any necessities required for delivery. Men who were married were more likely to be involved in maternal health than men who were not married. The study also revealed that men were not comfortable with discussing their wives’ pregnancy with a health care provider due to lack of privacy. Findings suggested that there were many factors affecting male involvement in maternal health. Lack of messages and programs targeting men, health stuff attitude during delivery, gender norms such as men not being allowed to attend to women when in labor and hospital infrastructure were identified by the respondents as a cause to low male involvement. In this study, it was also revealed that men and women had a positive perception towards pregnancy being a shared responsibility, men supporting and caring for their wives during and after delivery. However, both men and women had a negative perception towards men’s presence in the delivery ward.