The table below shows demographic characteristics of men respondents whereby the majority of the respondents were aged above 35 years and most men had primary education.
Demographics of study participants (N=50)
Characteristics
|
|
N
|
%
|
Age+
|
|
|
|
25-34 years
|
15
|
30
|
|
≥35 years
|
35
|
70
|
Highest education level achieved
|
|
|
|
Primary
|
41
|
82
|
|
Secondary (I-IV)
|
8
|
16
|
|
High (Form VI+)
|
1
|
2
|
Occupation/category
|
|
|
|
Peasant
|
42
|
84
|
|
Village leader
|
2
|
4
|
|
CHW
|
2
|
4
|
|
Health provider
|
2
|
4
|
|
Pastor
|
1
|
2
|
|
Other (driver)
|
1
|
2
|
Marital status
|
|
|
|
Married
|
40
|
80
|
|
Common law relationship
|
10
|
20
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Based on the five focus group discussions, six key informant interview and six In-depth interviews, two broad themes informed by Heise’s Ecological model were identified. The two board themes were; 1. Inconsistency and exclusion experienced by men attending facility-based ANC visits and 2. Male ANC attendance influenced by cultural beliefs and traditional gender roles.
Inconsistency and exclusion experienced by men attending facility-based ANC visits
Men reported inconsistent experiences when attending ANC together with partners. While Tanzanian government directives recommend that pregnant women attending ANC services together with a male partner will be given priority, this practice was inconsistently occurring. While some men reported care being expedited due to their presence, others reported standard care.
There are no priorities [silence]… when you are at the clinic, provider’s help who comes first and after you are done with the examination with the provider, you will be given the card for you to come back next visit. That means there is no priority (expectant father).
Some men reported they felt they were or would be excluded from care when attending ANC visits together with partners. Some men described choosing not to escort their partners since most facilities lack the physical space to accommodate them. Often they described being left outside during ANC while their wives/partners received service within the building. One father shared, “The challenge is when you go to the clinic with your wife, they enter her in the room, and then you stay outside like a watchman of the bicycle [laugh]” (father with more than one child).
Men shared that they felt their time was wasted when they could not attend in the examination room:
“But there is one challenge that, when you escort your wife for ANC, when you reach at health facility you can find yourself in trouble, no chairs or space…you just remain walking around the clinic and no one is considering you, your wife is busy with a child and clinic services but for me, you are just wasting your time for walking around the health facility and exchanging ideas with your fellow men, this makes us not want to accompany our wives to the clinic” (expectant father).
Beyond the physical space, men reported receiving limited or no information regarding their partner, pregnancy progress or other pertinent medical information. Many men shared that they had expected to be actively included in the checkup:
… I want to be involved in the examination room to be given findings [laugh] but not for me to remain outside…when I reached the clinic, they call my wife’s name, then they leave me outside… men have to go with their wife in examination room in order to hear the results she is told, if it is nutrition and if it is a lack of blood I need to know and not wait only her to tell me. What if she forgets other important things…so in my opinion men need to be in examination room (father with more than one child).
Male ANC attendance influenced by cultural beliefs and traditional gender roles
This theme revolved around common local cultural beliefs especially those related to traditional gender roles such as men working outside the home with women fulfilling the household labour. Pregnancy, childbirth and childcare are often categorized as “women’s work.” Two interesting subthemes were (a) secrecy; and (b) shame.
Secrecy
Men described that it was common practice for a woman to keep her pregnancy a secret from her partner. Similarly, women often keep pregnancy progress details a secret, reducing a male partner’s ability to engage fully in maternity issues and care. One expectant father shared his experience
When they are told some things, they do not tell us, their husbands, that is what am seeing. When she comes from the [ANC] clinic she will not even communicate to her husband, she might be told to tell her husband [cough] but she will not…we are seeing that in our households–they don’t give us information (expectant father).
This practice was recounted by other expectant fathers and community key informants. According to one health provider, “you may find women are secretive, they don’t put things open to their men, they don’t give them information” (health provider).
Shame
Entrenched traditional gender roles intersect with men’s masculinities leading to reports of men feeling shame, stigma and resistance related to ANC attendance. Many men perceive that the act of attending ANC will be interpreted by others as being dominated or “whipped” by their wife/partner. One father explained
We escort our wives to clinic but everyone has his or her perception; others will perceive that you are right, others will judge you negative by saying, “This man has reached to an end." Others will say, "This man has been charmed by his wife’’. (Expectant father)
A father explained how education, poverty and lack of employment might be linked to perceptions around male engagement in ANC:
There are two categories in this community; those who are somehow educated and those who are too traditional. For the educated category, the act of escorting your partner to ANC services is regarded as caring and loving and is seen as normal but for the other group of men escorting their partner to the clinic is regarded as someone who has been whipped by his wife” (father with one child)
…you find [men] are busy looking for family income, then the issue of escorting women to the health facility becomes difficult. It is better to look for a wage job (Expectant Father).
Many men reported that their time can be better spent working, rather than attending ANC appointments:
What causes men not to escort their partners first is economy. Our economy is poor, and you cannot go together at [ANC] clinic if you do not have something for consumption at home…when we go together, what will we eat after coming back from the clinic? (father with one child).
Men reported being ashamed attending ANC with partners if they perceived themselves and their partners to not possess good attire. Shame also resulted with inability to provide the recommended ANC and delivery materials. Men described a fear of others’ judgement and being mocked:
There are some men in this community who don’t want to escort their partners to clinic because their partners do not have proper clothes. Men fail to buy nice clothes for their partners and when the time of going to clinic arrives you find that the woman has no proper attire thus making the husband ashamed of going with his wife (Father with more than one child).
Further shame and discomfort were reported related to needed associations with women arising en route and at the facility. For example, men reported embarrassment while sitting in the facility waiting area, surrounded by other women; they reported feeling as though they did not belong:
You find at the clinic you’re only one or two men alone while seated with many pregnant women around you, you feel ashamed… you get fear of coming next time because you’re alone in the bench sitting with many women ( -Father with more than one child)
The health facility has no space to accommodate men…for me to sit with many women on the same bench I feel bad because I am alone…around you see all women their eyes are looking at you, get scared so it’s better not to go ( expectant father)
Participants described that in the (majority) Sukuma tribe, males walking together with their partners for a long distance is uncommon. Men avoid this since otherwise, “the community may perceive that you love so much your partner”. One leader explained:
For us Sukuma people we are not used to walk long distance with partner; you let her go first and then you come after she has reached certain distance. We feel ashamed traditionally that is how we are used (Village leader).