SOCIAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY MEN TO THEIR SPOUSES DURING LAST PREGNANCY AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING SELECTED PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRES IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, OYO STATE.

Abstract

Social support provided during pregnancy by the husband to the spouse is described as an exchange of resources between two intimate partners that is, the man and his pregnant wife. These resources can be provided by the man in various forms;for example, encouraging with kind words (emotional), accompanying to the ante natal clinic(ANC) (instrumental), advising on health lifestyle throughout pregnancy (informational) and asking for feedback after each ANC visits (appraisal). Pregnancy is a physiological state during which social support is of great importance. In spite of this, men have been unable to provide it holistically during pregnancy due to the dynamics of gender roles and the patriarchal nature of Nigeria and this has contributed to her high mortality rates, ranking her second globally. The main objective of this study was to investigate the social support men provide to their spouses during pregnancy so as to identify its effects on pregnancy outcomes. The study design was a retrospective cross sectional design. A multistage sampling method was adopted in the study to select 220 mothers across 6 Primary Health Centers (PHCs) that offer antenatal care services, out of the 14 PHCs in Ibadan North Local Government in Ibadan. Both qualitative and quantitative instruments were used for data collection. The qualitative data (FGD) was analyzed thematically. Themes were generated and categorized based on similarities and differences in the participant’s opinions within and across the groups, which was triangulated with the quantitative data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used for quantitative data entry and analysis of the data was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics at p=0.05. Knowledge on social support was assessed on an 18 point scale and scores ≤9 were categorized as poor knowledge while scores >9 were categorized as good. The mean age of the respondents was 27.6± 5.5 years and it ranged from 17 to 46 years. Majority (96.4%) of the respondents have good knowledge about social support. Almost all were made happy and given peace of mind by their husbands during pregnancy(98.6%). Less than half(36.8%) of the respondents were accompanied to the ANC by their husbands. This is consistent with the qualitative reports where participants did not state accompanying to ANC as a way of providing social support by the husband during pregnancy. The findings only revealed significant relationship between parity, family type and social support provided by men in taking care of other children(x2=6.864,p=0.009) and identifying fears and encouraging with kind words(x2=8.496,p=0.004) respectively. The results from both qualitative and quantitative studies, revealed that even though men are generally supportive of their wives during pregnancy they are not directly involved in the maternity care of their wives, just a few accompanied their wives to ANC. Male friendly sessions should be included in the ANC to capture the men and encourage their presence at the ANC.