Male Participation in Pregnancy Prevention Initiatives

Background: Historically, efforts to prevent teen pregnancy have focused mainly on females. The role that males play in reducing unintended pregnancies has received little attention. Engaging males in reproductive health services focused on their own and their partners' health is challenging. The newly funded Adolescent Family Life (AFL) project at the Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic (BTHC) will engage expectant fathers in CenteringPregnancy, a group approach to prenatal care, and postpartum parenting sessions using a variety of strategies learned through the agency's previous work with males.

Methods: Social marketing strategies, such as visiting barber shops and encouraging females to bring partners for services, have been employed to recruit males into the various programs.

Results: Using these strategies, 122 males attended a previous CenteringPregnancy program; about 300 additional young fathers received educational and vocational services; and over 2,000 males receive family planning services annually.

Conclusion: Lessons learned in these programs that will be implemented in the new AFL project include: 1) Obtaining input from males on how to tailor services that will address their needs; 2) Using diverse approaches to recruitment such as out-reach and in-reach strategies; 3) Training staff to communicate a genuine interest to serving males; and 4) Involving males in decision-making regarding their own needs; and 5) Referring males for additional services. It is anticipated that these approaches will be effective in recruiting males for the new program. Outcome measures will be used to assess the program's ability to empower males to make positive health choices.