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, adequate 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 birth 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 15-49 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