Mildred Nanjala

Striving for Safe Motherhood: the Socio-cultural Barriers to Male Partner Participation in Promoting Skilled Delivery Services for Spouses Mildred Nanjala

Maternal and child mortalities remain a major challenge in developing countries particularly in the sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya, maternal and neonatal mortalities stand at 488/100,000 and 31/1,000 respectively and are attributed to low rate of deliveries conducted by skilled attendants. A study conducted in Busia,a rural county in Kenya with high maternal mortality(680/100,000) established that only 25.6% of the mothers deliver at health facilities, and one of the contributing factors to this was low male partner involvement in supporting their spouses to access services of skilled attendants. A cross-sectional study covering 380 male partners and their spouses was conducted in Busia to establish factors that contribute to low male partner involvement in supporting their spouses in accessing delivery services from skilled attendants. The study established that the level of education,cultural beliefs,occupation and lack of knowledge among the male partners are the major contributing factors. The findings and recommendations of the study outlined in this book are very useful to programme officers working in developing countries in designing effective maternal and child health programs.