Male partner involvement in delivery care service and associated factors in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Promoting the involvement of male partners in skilled delivery care is a strategy supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of male partner involvement in delivery care service in Ethiopia and its contributing factors.

We retrieved observational studies conducted in Ethiopia from PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane Library, Hinari, and Mednar using Boolean search terms. The Newcastle Ottawa 2016 Critical Appraisal Checklist assessed the methodological quality of the studies. Publication bias was evaluated with a funnel plot and Egger’s test, and heterogeneity was checked using the I-squared test. Data were extracted into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Stata 11 software.

10 articles with 5,307 participants were included for analysis. The pooled prevalence of male partner involvement in delivery care service was 52.99% (95% CI: 40.63–65.35). Paternal secondary education and above (OR 1.99, 95% CI: 1.69, 2.30), paternal knowledge (OR 3.129, 95% CI: 1.901, 4.356), partner attitude (OR 2.39, 95% CI: 1.45–3.34), having ANC accompanying experience (OR 8.09, 95% CI: 3.14, 19.32), and urban residence (OR 2.12, 95% CI: 1.61, 2.64) were significantly associated with male partner involvement in delivery care service in Ethiopia.

This study found that more than half of male partners in Ethiopia were involved in delivery care services. The key contributing factors for male partner involvement in delivery care services were paternal secondary education and above, paternal knowledge, partner attitude, ANC accompanying experience, and urban residence. Campaigns should be organized to improve knowledge, attitude, and effectively recognize men’s involvement in skilled birth care.