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| Year : 1984 | Volume
: 30
| Issue : 1 | Page : 10-2 |
Contribution of the education of the prospective fathers to the success of maternal health care programme.
Bhalerao VR, Galwankar MM, Kowli SS, Kumar RR, Chaturvedi RM
The role of involving prospective fathers in the care of pregnant women attending the Mother Craft Clinic of the Malavani Health Center in Bombay, India was evaluated. Beginning in October 1982, pregnant women attending the Clinic were requested to ask their husands to meet the resident medical officer of the center who was available on the premises of the Center on all days and evenings including the holidays. 1 of the medico-social workers explained to the women the reason and the need for their husbands coming and meeting the doctor at the Center. The outcome of the maternal health care program for the 270 women whose husbands were invited and came (Group 1) was compared with the outcome of the same program, under the same roof, for 405 women whose husbands could not be invited (Group 2). The husbands who attended the center were educated individually and in groups about their role in nutrition and health of their wives during pregnancy and their responsibility in subsequent child rearing. The physiology of pregnancy, complications of pregnancy, and the possible ways and means of preventing the complications were explained in detail. The husbands were also told to encourage their wives to attend the antenatal clinic of the center as often as possible. There was no difference in the socioeconomic, educational, cultural, and religious background of the 2 groups of women who were similar in parity distribution. The main difference between the 2 groups was a significantly lower perinatal mortality in Group 1. Only 60 of the 405 Group 2 women were considered eligible for postpartum sterilization (para 3 and higher). In contrast, 41 of the 270 Group 1 women were considered eligible for postpartum sterilization and 110 women accepted. The excess of those who accepted over those who were eligible came form the lower paras. This effort confirms that the involvement of prospective fathers is possible and pays good dividends even in an uneducated and low socioeconomic connumity such as that in Malavani.
How to cite this article:
Bhalerao V R, Galwankar M M, Kowli S S, Kumar R R, Chaturvedi R M. Contribution of the education of the prospective fathers to the success of maternal health care programme. J Postgrad Med 1984;30:10 |
How to cite this URL:
Bhalerao V R, Galwankar M M, Kowli S S, Kumar R R, Chaturvedi R M. Contribution of the education of the prospective fathers to the success of maternal health care programme. J Postgrad Med [serial online] 1984 [cited 2023 Oct 3];30:10. Available from: https://www.jpgmonline.com/text.asp?1984/30/1/10/5493 |
During the child bearing period of life, mortality in women is higher than that in men of the corresponding age group in India.[3] As a consequence, the health care programmes in tropical countries, including those recommended by W.H.O., tend to lay emphasis on maternal and child health care.[4] In spite of this, maternal mortality in India has failed to decline significantly in last two decades.[5] One of the possible reasons for this is the failure of these programmes to involve the husbands of the pregnant women in the maternal health care. This is particularly important in a male-dominated society where the husband is the decision maker in the family and his support is vital during execution of the maternal health care programmes in developing countries.
It was, therefore, decided to study the effect of involving the prospective fathers in the care of the pregnant women attending the Mother Craft Clinic at Malavani Health Centre and thus broaden the scope of maternal health care programme. This study was carried out at Malavani Health Centre run by K.E.M. Hospital for the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay. The details of the comprehensive health care programme offered by Malavani Health Centre[1] and its Mother Craft Clinic[2] have already been described.
Commencing in October 1982, pregnant women attending the Mother Craft Clinic were requested to ask their husbands to meet the resident medical officer of the centre who was available in the premises of the Centre on all days including the holidays, even during evenings. One of the medico-social workers explained to the women the reason and the need for their husbands coming and meeting the doctor at the centre. Because of the difficulties in the logistics of such instructions, approximately one out of every three women received these instructions, The husbands of majority -of women so instructed came and met the resident medical officer. The outcome of the maternal health care programme in the women whose husbands were invited and came (Group I) was compared with the outcome of the same programme, under the same roof, in women whose husbands could not be invited (Group II). Group I Comprised 270 women and group II, 405 women.
The husbands who attended the centre were educated individually and in groups about their role in nutrition and health of their wives during pregnancy and their responsibility in the subsequent child rearing. They were explained in detail the physiology of pregnancy, complications of pregnancy and the possible ways and means of preventing the complications. They were also told to encourage their wives to attend the antenatal clinic of the centre as frequently as possible, All this information was imparted by the resident medical officer to the prospective fathers in one single visit to the centre.
There was no difference in the socioeconomic, educational, cultural and religious background of women in Group I and Group II.
[Table - 1] shows that group I and group II women were similar in parity-wise distribution.
[Table - 2] shows a significant difference between the number of visits paid by the women in the two groups.
[Table - 3] shows that the main difference between the two groups was a significantly lower perinatal mortality in group I.
Out of a total of 405 women from Group II, only 60 were considered eligible for post-partum sterilization (being para 3 or higher) and 62 women accepted sterilization. In contrast, out of a total of 270 women from Group I, 41 women were considered eligible for post-partum sterilization, and 110 women accepted it. The excess of those who accepted over those who were eligible came from the lower paras. This demonstrates the impact of the inclusion of husbands in the maternal health care programme.
Although the involvement of the prospective fathers in maternal health care is a normal practice in the West, it has not yet become established in this country. The advantages of such involvement of the fathers have already been mentioned. The present work confirms that such involvement of the prospective fathers is possible and pays good dividends even in an uneducated and low socio-economic community such as that in Malavani. The message of this work is clear.
We are thankful to the Dean, Seth G.S.M. College and K.E.M. Hospital, Bombay, for allowing us to publish the hospital data.
| 1. | Desai, Vinodini, P., Kowli, Shobha, S., Chaturvedi R. M., Sunder, S., Rajesh Kumar and Bhalerao, Vijaya, R.: Effectiveness of polio vaccination coverage in reducing the incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis in a highly endemic area of Bombay city. J. Postgrad. Med., 34: 1-4, 1984.  |
| 2. | Kowli, Shobha, S., Bhalerao, Vijaya R., Galwankar, Medha and Rajesh Kumar: Mother Craft Clinic-An experiment in obstetrics. J. Postgrad. Med., 30: 5-9, 1984. |
| 3. | Level and Trends of Mortality since 1950: Report of the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations' (STIESA/SER/74), New York, 1982, p. 132. |
| 4. | 4. Park, J. E. and Park, K.: "Text Book of Preventive and Social Medicine." Publishers: M/s. Banarasidas Bhanot, Jabalpur, India, 1981, p. 534. |
| 5. | Standard Registrations Scheme: Report of the Registrar General of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. Vol. XIV, No. 2 New Delhi, December, 1981, p. 132. |
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