Men In Maternal Health
At a time when maternal mortality rate is still higher in rural areas, encouraging male's role in maternal health will be significant
By A CORRESPONDENT
Although maternal mortality rate and women fertility rate has dramatically declined in the last one decade, the status of women health is still low. Incidents of early marriage and early child bearing are still rampant in rural parts of Nepal resulting in high child and maternal mortality rate.
With the low literacy rate and rampant prevalence of traditional thinking, men's participation in the efforts to reduce maternal mortality rate is very negligible, despite certain change in pattern and progress; men still have decisive position in the households.
As long as men cannot take part in the maternal health, it is impossible to reduce maternal mortality rate. Realizing the need to involve the men in the maternal health, World Population day chose the theme “Men as Partner in Maternal Health.”
"This is very timely theme in the country like ours where men's involvement is further required to reduce the maternal mortality rate. In urban areas, the situation is gradually changing as men are actively taking part in the health of women but the overwhelming majority of rural people consider it is just female role," said Dr. Ramhari Aryal, chief of Population Division, Ministry of Population and Health.
Man as father, husband and head of the family can make a lot of difference in bringing change in the social and family system. In a country where women are generally less educated than men at all levels of education, with a median of less than a year of schooling compared with 2.8 percent years among males.
According to Demographic and Health Survey, an overwhelming majority of births in the five years before the survey were delivered at home (81 percent). In this bleak scenario, the participation of men and family as a whole is required to improve the maternal mortality situation.
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