Institutional Determinants of Male Partner Involvement in Antenatal Care at Anti-Stock Theft Unit of Gilgil Ward in Nakuru County Kenya

Background: Male partner involvement in antenatal care is a crucial component in the optimization of maternal health. Uptake is low in developing countries since few men engage in care. Non-involvement is a global concern identified by researchers and needs addressing. Objective: To identify institutional determinants of male partner involvement in antenatal care (ANC) at Anti-Stock-Theft-Unit (ASTU) in Gilgil ward of Nakuru County. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive research design. Subjects: Simple random sampling was used to sample 334 participants from a population of 2582. Data was gathered using self- administered questionnaires,edited, coded, and organized with help of statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) Microsoft excel computer.It was then analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Chi square and Fishers exact tests were performed to test the hypothesis. The information was presented using tables and percentages. Results showed (91%) respondents indicated female workers dominate facilities. Participants who accompanied the partners during first ANC visit ( 88.9%) indicated being comfortable with female health personnel while,( 90.9%) who did not accompany the partners indicated that they were not comfortable with female health workers ( p=.0.036). Slightly less than half (44.6 %) of the subjects opined that health workers had wanting reactions. The 90% of the participants who accompanied the partners during the first ANC visit cited health workers were good, friendly and kind. However 85.7% of those who did not accompany the partners attributed it to health workers wanting responses p= (2-sided) 0.017). Conclusions: Gender and health care workers were significant to male partner involvement in antenatal care.