Men's Involvement In Birth Spacing In Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Birth spacing is one of the major aspects of reproductive health which contributes to the increase

or decrease of mortality related to women and children. Existing researches on birth spacing

have revealed that short birth interval has implications on mothers and their children. However,

adeqLiate attention has not been given to men's involvement in birth spacing. This study

examined the relationship between characteristics of men aged 15-49 years who are in union and

their preferred waiting time for next birth. It further studied their perception of bi1ih interval. The

mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative method) was used in this study. Six men

were interviewed, and manual thematic content analysis was used in analyzing the information

obtained from the interview. This was complemented with data from the 2013 Nigeria

Demographic and Health Survey data set (male recode) which weighted sample size was 5920

men in monogamous union aged of I 5-49 years who wanted another child. The univariate result

revealed that the majority of the men spaced their birth for at least 2 years. The bivariate analysis

showed that there was significant relationship between preferred birth interval and individual

men's characteristics, except number of living children. At the multivariate level, many

characteristics of men such as number of living children, heard of family planning, exposure to

media, and current contraceptive method were significantly associated with their preferred birth

interval. The findings revealed that men had good perception about birth spacing, and that

religion can hinder men from involving in birth spacing. In conclusion, birth spacing in Nigeria

is related to men's characteristics. Therefore, programmes and policy effort are required to

encourage men's involvement maternal related issues such as birth spacing.

Keywords: Men's involvement, Birth spacing, Reproductive health, Family planning, Perception