Maternal and newborn mortality continue to be major challenges in Nigeria. While greater participation of men in maternal and newborn health has been associated with positive outcomes in many settings, male involvement remains low. The objective of this analysis was to investigate male involvement in maternal and newborn health in Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. This qualitative study included 40 event narratives conducted with families who had experienced a maternal or newborn complication or death, in-depth interviews with 10 husbands and four community leaders, and four focus group discussions with community health workers. The interviews focused on understanding illness recognition and care seeking as well as the role of husbands at each stage on the continuum of maternal and newborn health. Data were transcribed, translated to English, and coded and analyzed using Dedoose software and a codebook developed a priori. This paper reports low levels of knowledge of obstetric and newborn complications among men and limited male involvement during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period in Jigawa state. Men are key decision-makers around the location of the delivery and other decisions linked to maternal and newborn health, and they provide crucial resources including nutritious foods and transportation. However, they generally do not accompany their wives to antenatal visits, are rarely present for deliveries, and do not make decisions about complications arising during delivery and the immediate post-partum period. These gendered roles are deeply ingrained, and men are often ridiculed for stepping outside of them. Additional barriers for male involvement include minimal engagement with health programs and challenges at health facilities including a poor attitude of health providers towards men and accompanying family members. These findings suggest that male involvement is limited by low knowledge and barriers related to social norms and within health systems. Interventions engaging men in maternal and newborn health must take into account these obstacles while protecting women’s autonomy and avoiding reinforcement of gender inequitable roles and behaviors.

中文翻译：

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“那是女人的问题”：定性分析，以了解尼日利亚北部吉加瓦州男性参与孕产妇和新生儿健康的情况

产妇和新生儿死亡率仍然是尼日利亚的主要挑战。尽管在许多情况下，男性更多地参与孕产妇和新生儿健康与积极成果相关联，但男性参与率仍然很低。这项分析的目的是调查尼日利亚北部吉加瓦州男性对孕产妇和新生儿健康的参与。这项定性研究包括对经历过孕产妇或新生儿并发症或死亡的家庭进行的40项事件叙述，对10位丈夫和4位社区领袖的深入访谈以及与社区卫生工作者的4次焦点小组讨论。访谈的重点是了解疾病的识别和寻求护理，以及丈夫在孕产妇和新生儿健康连续性各个阶段的作用。数据被转录，翻译成英文，并使用Dedoose软件和先验密码本进行编码和分析。本文报道了吉加瓦州男性对产科和新生儿并发症的了解水平较低，并且男性在妊娠，分娩和产后期间受累的程度有限。在分娩地点和与孕产妇和新生儿健康有关的其他决定周围，男人是关键的决策者，他们提供重要的资源，包括营养食品和运输。但是，他们通常不陪伴妻子进行产前检查，很少出现分娩，也没有就分娩期间和产后立即发生的并发症做出决定。这些性别角色已根深蒂固，而男人常常因为走出他们而受到嘲笑。男性参与的其他障碍包括与卫生计划的接触最少以及卫生机构面临的挑战，包括卫生服务提供者对男性及其陪伴家庭成员的态度较差。这些发现表明，男性参与受知识水平低和与社会规范以及卫生系统内相关的障碍的限制。使男子参与孕产妇和新生儿健康的干预措施必须考虑到这些障碍，同时保护妇女的自主权，并避免加强性别不平等的角色和行为。