Knowledge and participation of men in antenatal care in the catchment area of kalulushi township clinic in kalulushi district.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish Knowledge and Participation of men in Antenatal care (ANC) in Kalulushi District. It has been observed that very few pregnant women at KTSC in Kalulushi District, are escorted for ANC by their partners.A non-interventional descriptive research design was used because it provided for the description of knowledge, participation in ANC and barriers to non participation of men in ANC. A pilot study was conducted on five respondents at KGC whose characteristics of respondents were the same as the ones for KTSC where the actual study was conducted. Purposive sampling method was used to select fifty respondents since few men attended the clinic where the study was conducted. Collection of data was done by use of structured interview schedule. The data was analysed manually by use of scientific calculator and a data master sheet. Presentation of data was done by use of frequency tables, pie charts and cross tabulations.All the respondents 50 (100%) had high knowledge on men participation in ANC, and 40% were aged between 29 and 35 years old. The study also revealed that 82% respondents were married while 72% had attained the secondary level of education. 16% of respondents had high participation in ANC while 84% had low participation. 14% of the respondents indicated inadequate space at ANC as a barrier for non participation of men in ANC while 42% pointed out cultural hindrances. KDHMT should therefore enact a policy to encourage men to participate in ANC and also to increase space at MCH.