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

Male's involvement has been recognized as a key facilitating factor to the women’s reproductive health. This paper analyzes the individual, familial and contextual factors affecting male involvement in the maternal health of their wives using data from 2005-06 National Family Health Survey-3.The analysis is based on information collected from men age 15-49, having a living child age 0-35 months at the time of survey. The findings reveal that over half of such men accompanied their wife for ANC when they were pregnant with their youngest child. Increasing education (AOR=2.32, p<0.10) and exposure to mass media (AOR= 1.65, p<0.05) are having significantly positive impact on male participation in ANC. However, increasing educational gap between husband and wife adversely affect the male participation in maternal health in India. Men from schedule castes and schedule tribes are the less informed group. Men in the central region are significantly less likely to get information about pregnancy complication from health providers (AOR= 0.67, p<0.10). Thus, there is an urgent need to adopt certain innovative approaches to enhance male participation in maternal health services right from timely ANC to safe deliveries, so that India can achieve the millennium developments goals relating to maternal and child health.