Background  

While pregnancy and childbirth are generally regarded as joyful and exciting events in a parent’s life, the thought of bringing a new person into the world and being responsible for it can also cause a lot of worry and stress. In many parts of the world, women face pregnancy, labour and birth alone in health facility environment, without their male partners there to support them.

About the project

This project was created to increase male involvement in antenatal care (care for pregnant women) in order to promote healthy childbirth. The project team aimed to strengthen the capacity of midwives at the Botswana Defence Force clinic. The midwives were trained to make the facility more male friendly, promote support to the expectant mother during ANC and promote male and female shared responsibilities and participation in preparation for childbirth. Couples from the Sir Seretse Khama barracks were recruited for the project and the midwives met with them to share information on the importance of attending antenatal care together, how to identify early anger signs and other issues related to their needs.

Results

By the end of the project, 15 midwives had been trained on the concept of male involvement in antenatal care. After the training, midwives started to invite men into consulting rooms and involving them in discussions about pregnancy, labor, delivery and family planning. 10 couples participated in the project. All of them showed appreciation for the initiative, saying that it helped the men gain more knowledge about pregnancy and labour and also understand the importance of being involved and supporting their partners.

Year: 2006