The effect of mass media campaign on Men's participation in maternal health: a cross-sectional study in Malawi

Background: Men's participation in antenatal, childbirth and postnatal care is crucial to the health of the mothers and neonates. Nevertheless, very few men participate in maternal health, especially in developing countries. Mass media is one of the popular and effective tools for health promotion and behavioral change globally. However, this approach is rarely recognized in maternal health literature and its impact on men's participation in maternal health is not thoroughly understood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effect of mass media campaign on men's involvement in maternal health. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 3,825 women of childbearing age (15-49 years) was conducted between July and December 2013 in Malawi's Mchinji district. Our interest was to establish if husbands of the women who were exposed to the maternal health radio program called Phukusi la Moyo (PLM) were significantly different to those of the women who were not exposed, especially in terms of their involvement in maternal health. We collected data on exposure to the radio campaign and men's involvement in maternal health through face-to-face interviews using electronic structured questionnaires. The univariate, bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used during analysis of the data. The level of significance was set at p = 0.05. Results: Husbands of the women who were exposed to the PLM radio program were more likely to participate in antenatal care (OR1.5 [95% confidence interval 1.3-1.8]), to be involved in childbirth (OR 1.7 [95% confidence interval 1.5-2.0]) and to participate in postnatal care (OR 1.9 [95% confidence interval 1.7-22]) than their counterparts. Conclusion: The use of mass media in promoting the involvement of men in antenatal care, childbirth and postnatal care is effective. Henceforward, we recommend the inclusion of mass media in projects or interventions designed to promote men's engagement in maternal health.