ABSTRACT

This study investigated men involvement in ante-natal care using Ikeja bag Local Government as a study. It was designed to establish the impact of min in ante-natal related issues and its corresponding effect on infant development. Relevant literature and theories related to this study were used

Both primary and secondary data were used. The primary data include a well structured questionnaire of 200 administered to respondents in Ikeja Local Government in Lagos State through stratified and accidental sampling techniques, 174 returned while 15 rejected and their responses analyzed through descriptive and non parametric statistics.

Finding revealed that men’s involvement indicated the importance of ante-natal care and post-natal care as it play a tremendous role in the sustainability of child development, socialization process and marital harmony. It was ascertained that ante-natal care is a signpost of the development of a child, marital bless and family harmony.

It was recommended that men should underlisted that no woman carries a pregnancy in the first instance without the input the “supplying the ingredients” that facilitates the pregnancy process. Therefore, it is highly recommended and post-natal stages to give the women a sense of care and being loved.

Moreover, the birth of an infact in insignificant without the active support of parents in primary socialization process. This therefore call on the men to help model the child behavour. Starting from pre-birth stages (ante-natal) to post birth state (post-natal) and stop hiding under the guise of their job as this affects the family structure and society at large.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

          The ability to provide special care for women during pregnancy trough social or public health care or services was a relatively late development in modern obstetrics. In the contemporary medical sociology, there’s a clamour for increasing recognition of men’s attitudes and behaviours to their partner’s pregnancy to influence the outcome of pregnancy and the couple’s risk of HIV/STDCI as crucial important project. Within sexual and reproduction health. During the 80’s there was a tacit, if gradual, recognition with health promotion that men were an important factor in the health of women and socialization process of children.

Picking from the world summit for children in (1990) the role of men in ante-natal clinic (ANC) services play faster couple communication and HIV prevention behaviours among pregnant women and gives focus of an intervention. Men’s participation in ante-natal provides an opportunity to supply information on birth spacing, which is recognized as an important factor in improving in front several.

Better understanding of fetal growth and development and its’ relationship to the mother’s health has resulted in increased attention to the potential of ante-natal care as an intervention to improve both material and newborn health. tetanud immunization during pregnancy can be life-saving for both mother and infact when supply the information during development of the pregnancy. The prevention and treatment of malaria among pregnant women, management of aneamia during pregnancy and treatment of STD’s can significantly improve total outcomes and improve maternal health. It therefore assented that address outcome as of such as birth weight can be reduced trough a compilation of intervention to improve women’s nutritional status and present infections (malaria STD(I)s) during pregnancy. More recently, the potential of men in the ante-natal period is an entry point of HIV prevention and care, in particular for prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child has led to renewed interest in process to and use of ante-natal care services. There is now broad agreement that the focus of men in ante-natal care interventions should be on improving material health; this being both as end in itself and necessary of improving the health and survival of infacts.

Baylies, C and Bujra J. (2000) asserted that there is a potential of care of men during the ante-natal period to improve a range of health outcomes for women and children, the world summit for children in 1990 adopted ante-natal care as a specific goal, namely “access by all pregnant women to prenatal care, trained attendants. During children birth and referral facilities for high risk pregnancies and obstetric emergencies similar aims have been voiced in other major inter-national care, including the international conference on population and development in 1994, the fourth world conference on women in 1995, their five-year follow-up evaluations of process, and the United Nations General Assembly special session on children in 2002.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

          Many elements of ante-natal care, such as routine monitoring of height and weight gain, have not been shown to have any impact in reducing the risk of senor complication and material deaths despite men’s involvement in ante-natal care. The risk approach, adopted as a way of identifying which women are most shown to have only limited effectiveness: most women who go on to develop life threatening complications had no apparent risk factors; those identified as being at risk generally end up with uneventful deliveries. Other ante-natal interventions, such as detection and treatment of anemia ad the management of sexually transmitted diseases or infection (STD(I)s), offer improvements in health without necessarily any equivalent reduction in the risk of material death (Smith, 1998) Men not only acted as gatekeeper restricting women and children’s access to health services nut also through abuse or neglect, men’s actions had direct bearing on the health of their partners and their children (Gallen et al, 1986).

The reality is that despite the considerable rhetoric surrounding men’s involvement, men are still seldom targeted and there are very few evaluations of intervention in  sexual and reproductive health that address issues from a focal point of maxulinity, or coin an understanding of men’s needs. The involvement of men in ante-natal care and its corresponding effect on women reproductive health.       

1.3SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY     

An investigation into men’s involvement in ante-natal care cannot be over-emphasized considering his centrality to family union, good health of children among others. Men’s involvement in ante-natal care symbolizes bond within the family sub-system while both women and men agreed upon the importance of providing financial support for baby, women’s definition of male involvement in ante-natal included other issues related to marital stability.

This study will be beneficial to married men and women, single people, health practitioners and the government. Nonetheless, three are potential benefits to be had from some of the elements of ante-natal care, and these benefits maybe most significant in developing countries where mobility an mortality levels among reproductive-age women are high. The ante-natal period form men support clearly present s opportunities for reaching pregnant women with a number of interventions that may be vital to their health and well-being and that of their infants. The ante-natal period is used to inform women and families about danger signs and symptoms and about the risks of labour and delivery, it may provide the route for ensuring that pregnant women do, in practice, deliver with the assistance of a skilled health care provider.

With the improved understanding on ante-natal care a refocusing of materials health programmes towards ensuring that women have access to care during the critical period around labour and delivery – which is when most deaths occur – coupled with referral for the management of obstetric emergencies. Thus safe motherhood programmes tend to patronize the need for ante-natal care in developing countries.

1.4    OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The primary aim of this study is to investigate men’s involvement in ante-natal care. The following supporting objectives will be examined

          (1)     To emphasize the area of intervention of men in ante-natal care

          (2)     To examine men’s involvement in post-natal care

          (3)     To examine the men attitude to women reproductive health

(4)     To make appropriate recommendation for effective way of involving men in women reproductive health

(5)     To evaluate the supportive roles of men in preaed post natal

1.5    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

At the end of this research work, the following questions would have been answered.

(1)     What is the rational behind ante-natal care?

          (2)     Do men reconsider ante-natal care as their responsibility?

(3)     What are the health and social implication for (if any) of men involvement in ante-natal care?

(4)     What measure could be adopted to get men involved in ante-natal care?

(5)     What factors preventing men from getting involved in ante-natal care?

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will be limited to Ikeja Local Government in Lagos State where a cross section in ante-natal men will be sample on their involvement researcher that the outcome of this study will be a representation of other state in the country.

1.7    OPERATIONAL DEFINITON OF TERMS

Some concepts are explained to make the work accessible to those whoa re not necessary health practitioners’ scholars in medical sociology.

ANTE-NATAL: the provision of special care for women during pregnancy to facilitate safe and easy delivery.

POST-NATAL: The provision of special care of women after women after delivery to monitor the baby’s health.

OBSTETRCS 9from the Latin word obstare, “to stand by” is the surgical specialty dealing with the care of women and her offspring during pregnancy, children and the pureperium (the period shortly after birth) most obstetricians are also gynecologist. 

ANTE-NATAL DEPRESSION: Is depression that some women feel while they are pregnant.

EMBRYO: concepts between times of fertilization to 10 weeks of gestation.

FETUS: from 10 weeks of gestation to time of birth

INFANT: time of birth to 1 year of age

GESTATIONAL AGE: time from last menstrual period (LMP) up to present

FIRST TRIMESTER: Up to 14 weeks of gestation

SECOND TRIMESTER: 14 to 28 weeks of gestation

THIRD TRIMESTER: 2 weeks to delivery.

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