Who is most vulnerable? Factors associated with presenting to antenatal care without a male partner in Northern Tanzania
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Male engagement in pregnancy care can be beneficial for maternal and child health outcomes. In Tanzania, pregnant women are strongly encouraged to present to their first antenatal care (ANC) appointment with a male partner, where they jointly test for HIV. For some, this presents a barrier to ANC attendance. The objectives of this study were to identify factors associated with presenting to ANC with a male partner using a cross-sectional design and to assess whether women presenting without partners had significantly delayed presentation.
Methods
Pregnant women (n = 1007) attending a first ANC appointment in Moshi, Tanzania were surveyed. Questions captured sociodemographic characteristics and measures of psychosocial constructs.
Results
Just over half (54%) of women presented to care with a male partner. Women were more likely to present with a male partner if they were younger than 25 years old, married, Muslim, attending ANC for their first pregnancy, and testing for HIV for the first time. Women presenting to ANC with a male partner were significantly more likely to attend ANC earlier in their pregnancy than those presenting without male partners.
Conclusion
Policy change allowing women to present to care with other supportive family members could promote earlier presentation to first ANC. Unmarried women may be at a disadvantage in presenting to ANC when policies mandate attendance with a male partner. Male partners of multiparous women should be encouraged to provide pregnancy support even after first pregnancies, and a wholistic emphasis (beyond HIV testing) on first ANC could encourage male engagement beyond the initial appointment.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Artikelnummer | 103962 |
Tidsskrift | Midwifery |
Vol/bind | 132 |
Antal sider | 7 |
ISSN | 0266-6138 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2024 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:
This research was funded by a grant from the Fogarty International Center (FIC) at the National Institutes of Health ( NIH; R21 TW011053 ), a pilot grant from the Duke Center for AIDS Research ( P30 AI064518 ), and a student research award from Duke University's Bass Connections program.
Funding Information:
The study received ethical approval from the Tanzanian National Health Research Ethics Committee (protocol #2183), the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (protocol #915), Duke University (protocol #D0371), and the University of Utah (protocol #00127605).This research was funded by a grant from the Fogarty International Center (FIC) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH; R21 TW011053), a pilot grant from the Duke Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI064518), and a student research award from Duke University's Bass Connections program.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024
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