Spousal agreement on maternal health practices in Kathmandu, Nepal

Growing recognition of the influential roles that men play in health behaviours and decision-making has prompted a number of couples' agreement studies, particularly in the areas of contraceptive use and household decision-making. While such findings have had important implications on the design, measurement and evaluation of family planning interventions, few studies on couples' agreement on maternal health behaviours have been conducted. Findings from a descriptive analysis of agreement levels regarding maternal health practices among 129 couples that delivered a baby in urban Nepal in 2003-2004 are presented. These data indicate that agreement levels between husbands and wives pertaining to maternal health behaviours are low, with 5-55% of couples disagreeing on whether the behaviour had occurred. These data and the surrounding discussion raise important issues that ought to be taken into consideration when conducting maternal health research and designing and evaluating maternal health programmes.