Involving men in maternal health through telephone technology

Background: Failure of pregnant women to secure permission from their husbands to attend ANC and facility delivery service constitutes a significant socio-cultural barrier to access and continuity of MNCH care in northern Nigeria. An MNCH program in Nigeria, Partnership for Transforming Health System II, responded to this challenge by engaging husbands of ANC enrollees through telephone calls from hospitals. Pre-paid land-telephones were purchased and distributed to six local primary health care clinics across two LGAs in Kaduna, Nigeria. Health workers handling the phones were trained on Interpersonal Communication.

The objective of this paper is to describe the lessons learnt from the implementation of the innovation

Method: Using key in-depth interview, qualitative data was obtained from 30 pregnant women attending ANC whose husbands were called for MNCH discussions from the hospitals. The interviews were conducted using semi-guided questionnaires which elicited response on topic discussed during telephone conversation and behavioral changes that ensued.

Result: All the respondents claimed that engagement of their husbands through telephone calls from hospitals gave their spouses opportunities to understand importance of ANC and facility delivery including danger signs of pregnancy and necessary action in case of emergency. The respondents also claimed that their husbands gave them standing permission to attend ANC and facility delivery. They were also supported with transport fare for each visit which was not the case hitherto.

Conclusion: Engagement of men through telephone is a promising tool for enhancing men participation in maternal health and removal of socio-cultural barrier to MNCH care access.