Does Male Participation in Maternal Health Ensure Achieving MDGs in India? Evidence from National Family Health Surveys

Prahlad Kumar, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Shrikant Singh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The paper analyzes individual, familial and contextual factors affecting male involvement in the maternal health of their wives in India using data from National Family Health Survey, 2005-06.The analysis is based on the information collected from the men of age group 15-49, having a living child aged 0-35 months at the time of survey. Findings reveal that over half of such men accompanied their wife for ANC when they were pregnant with their youngest child. Increasing educational gap between husband and wife adversely affects the male participation in maternal health. It varies across different regions of the country; especially central region needs concerted efforts. Analysis of health system response in informing husbands about potential pregnancy complications to their wives and actions to mitigate the impact of complications portrays that rich and urban men are the privileged groups.Men from schedule castes and schedule tribes are the less informed group.