Abstract

Women's ability to make decisions about their health is still hampered by socioeconomic, cultural, religious, and
ethnic inequities resulting from men's control over the family's finances, time allocation, and access to medical
care. Despite playing vital roles in providing women with material, emotional, and physical support, male
involvement in maternal health services continues to challenge safe parenthood. Male partners should participate
in maternity care to facilitate adequate treatment at appropriately equipped health facilities and reduce delays in
receiving appropriate care. This study assessed the level of male involvement in antenatal care and associated
factors among women attending Antenatal care (ANC) at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital in Fort Portal
City, Western Uganda. The study employed a descriptive and analytic design, utilizing cross-sectional
quantitative methods of data collection. Data were entered using Microsoft Excel Version 13 and analyzed using
STATA 14.0. Prior to data entry, the data was coded and cleaned to identify inconsistencies and missing values.
Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between dependent and
independent variables. Descriptive statistics were presented in the form of frequency tables, pie charts, and graphs.
In the present study, 224 (59.4%) participants were aged 21–30, and 310 (82.2%) were married. The majority had
attained secondary education (203, 53.8%), were Catholic (155, 41.1%), and had 3–4 children (189, 50.1%).
Findings revealed that 263 (69.8%) had a low level of involvement, while 114 (30.2%) had a high level of
involvement. Additionally, 54.6% of participants demonstrated poor knowledge, while 45.4% exhibited good
knowledge about antenatal care. An observed association was found between age, marital status, level of education,
employment status, decision-making capacity, monthly income, perceived attitude of health workers, privacy at
antenatal clinics, and waiting time. The level of male involvement and knowledge about ANC remains suboptimal.
Factors associated with male involvement include age, marital status, level of education, employment status,
decision-making capacity, monthly income, attitude of healthcare providers, privacy at the antenatal clinic, and
waiting time.
Keywords: Antenatal care, Birth preparedness, Marital status, Maternal death.