Limited Support from Husbands Fueling Maternal Mortality in Uganda

Photo Credit: weforum.org

No woman should die while giving life. But at the current rate of 336 deaths per 100,000 live births, Uganda does not only have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world but it is also manifesting as a very risky corner of the planet for one to be a fertile woman. 

A number of factors continue to sustain the maternal mortality rate in Uganda as one of the highest in the global scale. According to the Uganda Health Alliance, an advocacy group for health, poor policy implementation; inadequate financing; inadequate lifesaving commodities; inadequate human resources in terms of numbers, skill, and quality of care are leading factors fueling maternal deaths in the country.

The Alliance further position some cultural practices and social norms and beliefs such as the unsupportiveness of husbands to be contributing prodigiously to maternal mortality as the country rank as 11th out of 183 countries.

In Uganda, husbands are key decision-makers in the household, effectively determining women's access to health services. When husbands retract from taking active role in antenatal care, such as refusing to provide the transport fair to the pregnant wife, the chance that the woman endures to go for all the required hospital visits can be greatly compromised. 

A recent research study in Kabale District

A recent research study conducted in Kabale District, Western Uganda by prominent researchers, Florence Muheirwe and Said Nuhu, had some shocking findings which are stimulating health experts and policymakers to rethink programmes that reach out to men for the maternal and child health agenda. 

In a quest to explore the community perspective towards the participation of men in maternal and child health care, the researchers immersed themselves in the remote areas of Kabale District to dig out the reality.

Household questioners, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, direct field observation and document review were employed to reach the goal of the research study.

Key in the intriguing report published in the BMC Public Health journal, hospital issues were generally perceived as women's affairs among the male study participants. Out of 124 respondents, the largest portion, 55% (66) defended that male participation in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) care was irrelevant.

 "Most men do not accompany their partners to family planning, antenatal care and during labour, or delivery," the scientists wrote in the report. "The scene of childbirth is considered as so shameful for husbands to witness." The researchers further revealed that the influence of peers also plays a key role in discouraging supportive husbands.

On the other side of the focus group discussion: experts at health centre revealed that the major challenge of male involvement in MCH is the fact that a number of men in the area live a careless life of drinking in bars and yet always claiming to be so busy to offer any attention or care to the expecting mother.

“This is a maternity ward for women, what will I be doing there as a man since men do not get pregnant? Even this facility is full of female nurses; I cannot tell them my health problems.” A husband in Kabale District.

And with the newly devised approach where antenatal care service is primarily accorded to expecting mothers accompanied by their partners will only mean more women shall be left out disheartened and unattended to. This will simply mean more pregnancy and delivery-related complications and deaths in the country.

In their summary, the researchers advised that community education and health sensitisation to change the prevailing socio-cultural attitudes and perceptions of men should be prioritised by the Ministry of Health and other players in the health sector. 

"Making use of community social gatherings would be helpful in demystifying misconceptions, change perceptions and attitude, consequently encouraging male participation over time," the researchers wrote in their recommendation.

Article by Abet Tonny, a Science Writer in Uganda.