Barriers to men’s participation in mother and neonatal health: A qualitative study

Background: The role of men’s participation in prenatal, delivery and postpartum care is very important, well defined and cannot be over emphasized. Very few studies exist about men’s role in promoting the health of the mother and barriers to their participation in perinatal care in Iran; hence, the present study was conducted to determine the barriers to men’s participation in perinatal care Methods: The present study was a qualitative research. 45 participants were selected using purposeful sampling with maximum variation and the data was collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and field notes. The data was analyzed using conventional content analysis Results: After data analysis, four main categories extracted were: cultural barriers , personal and interpersonal barriers , health system-related barriers and socio-economic barriers .Conclusion: The results of this study, by presenting the barriers to and challenges for men’s participation in perinatal care, could be helpful in designing culture-based strategies to overcome these barriers and improve men’s participation

Keywords:

Men , Barriers , Participation , Mother and Neonatal Health