Effect of a behavioral intervention on male involvement in birth preparedness in a rural community in Northern Nigerian

Introduction: Delays in care seeking for obstetric emergencies are major determinants of maternal death in Nigeria. Birth preparedness has been found to be effective in reducing these delays. Male involvement is necessary for improving birth preparedness because of patriarchy which allows men to control women′s access to and utilization of maternal health care. Aim: To assess the effect of a health promotion intervention on male involvement in birth preparedness in a rural community in northern Nigeria. Materials and Method: A quasi-experimental study in which 205 and 206 married men were enrolled into study and control groups respectively. Pre-intervention, data were collected from both groups. Thereafter, a three-component health promotion intervention was carried out among the study group. Six months after, a post-intervention survey was carried out among both groups. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS Statistics 17.0, and statistical significance of difference between pre- and post-intervention levels of birth preparedness was determined using Chi-square test at P < 0.05. Qualitative data was analyzed manually according to themes. Results: Post-intervention, both study and control groups did not show statistically significant increase in the practice of birth preparedness. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that their religious beliefs were not in favour of the practice of birth preparedness. Conclusion: The intervention did not increase male involvement in birth preparedness likely due to religious misconceptions. Therefore, future studies should consider assessing the effect of interventions that employ religious approaches on birth preparedness.