This Father’s Day, I celebrate the role of men in safeguarding maternal health
By Elman Nsinda, journalist and maternal health advocate at White Ribbon Alliance Uganda
As we celebrate Father’s Day this year, we are encouraging men to take more active roles as fathers during pregnancy and childbirth.
The first time I knew that I was going to become a father was a very humbling, exciting and apprehensive moment.
I now have two boys and they bring me immense joy and satisfaction. I am proud to be a father and I am looking forward to celebrating this year’s Father’s Day on June 18th. This is the fourth Father’s Day that I am celebrating in a role that changed my life forever.
While I and other fathers will be enjoying our special day, White Ribbon Alliance and its partners in maternal health will be celebrating with these men because of the central role they play in improving maternal health outcomes.
Maternal health indicators show that as men, our active involvement in the lives of our pregnant partners goes a long way in ensuring a safe pregnancy and birth.
Statistics about Uganda show that 17 women and 106 newborns die every day due to complications related to pregnancy and child birth.
This critical role of men, especially in countries like Uganda, comes from our vantage financial position in most relationships which gives us the upper hand in making key decisions about our partners during pregnancy and child birth.
Men usually make decisions on issues like where a pregnant partner will give birth, the kinds of foods she will eat during pregnancy, how many children the family should have and whether the woman should go for family planning or not.
While these roles are often neglected and overlooked, they are very critical in preventing maternal and neonatal deaths in countries like Uganda.
Statistics about Uganda show that 17 women and 106 newborns die every day due to complications related to pregnancy and child birth. Unfortunately, the causes of these deaths are known and they include: Severe bleeding, sepsis, obstructed labor, hypertension among others. Delays to seek care also play a huge part. Most of these complications can be handled or even prevented if men were knowledgeable about maternal health and their central role in their women’s lives.
In many African countries like Uganda, it is unusual to see men accompany women to antenatal care or even be present at delivery. When they see fellow men doing it, some consider them to be idle, ‘not serious’ and having a lot of extra time.
Men usually make decisions on issues like where a pregnant partner will give birth, the kinds of foods she will eat during pregnancy, how many children the family should have and whether the woman should go for family planning or not.
However, the general thinking that pregnancy and childbirth is a responsibility of the woman needs to be discarded. Men need to get involved.
I came to fully appreciate our tremendously important role as men when I escorted my wife to hospital to attend antenatal care and to also give birth to our two children. Because of prior knowledge about my roles as a man during pregnancy, I provided nutritious meals for my partner, planned transport to take her to the health facility and accompanied her to hospital for antenatal care and I also saved money to plan for emergencies.
We were attended to first because it is normal procedure at many health facilities offering antenatal services to attend to a woman that is accompanied by her partner. In fact, some women hire other men to accompany them in order to get first priority.
This experience gave me a sense of being an active participant in my wife’s pregnancy and birth. My wife also felt safe and cared for. And luckily, she delivered normally, two healthy thriving babies.
But while the initiative of encouraging men to escort their wives was implemented to encourage more men to get involved in making decisions that will ensure positive maternal health outcomes, we also need to strive to change the social norms that place women in a position where they need to be accompanied by men to receive priority treatment.
As we celebrate Father’s Day this year, we are encouraging men to take more active roles as fathers during pregnancy and childbirth.
It is therefore the responsibility of all of us — you and me — to raise awareness about these critical roles in our societies so that men can understand how important their active participation is, and play their part in helping women receive the quality care they deserve. Through this, men can help women ultimately survive childbirth, thrive as women and mothers and transform their lives and the lives of their families. This will remarkably impact on maternal health indicators and eventually contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, because healthy mothers make for a healthy world.
This Father’s Day, donate to White Ribbon Alliance and help protect and promote women’s health around the world. White Ribbon Alliance unites citizens to demand the right to a safe birth for every woman, everywhere. We harness the power of local women and men to achieve lasting change. Our approach is working. Subscribe to WRA Voices and follow WRA on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about the work White Ribbon Alliance does around the world.
