Perceptions of male partners on maternal near-miss events experienced by their female partners in Rwanda

BACKGROUND: Maternal near-miss refers to women who survive death from life-threatening obstetric complications and has various social, financial, physical, and psychological impacts on families. OBJECTIVE: To explore male partners’ perceptions of maternal near-miss experienced by their female partners and the associated psychosocial impacts on their families in Rwanda. METHODS: This was a qualitative study involving 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with male partners whose spouses experienced a maternal near-miss event. Data were analyzed using a thematic coding to generate themes from participants’ responses. RESULTS: Six key themes that emerged were: male partner’s support during wife’s pregnancy and during maternal near-miss hospitalization, getting the initial information about the spouse’s near-miss event, psychosocial impacts of spouse’s near-miss, socio-economic impact of spouse’s near-miss, post- maternal near-miss family dynamics, and perceived strategies to minimize the impacts of near-miss. Male partners reported emotional, social, and economic impacts as a result of their traumatic experiences. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of maternal near-miss among families in Rwanda remains an area that needs healthcare attention. The residual emotional, financial, and social consequences not only affect females, but also their male partners and their relatives. Male partners should be involved and be well-informed about their partners’ conditions and the expected long-term effects of near-miss. Also, medical and psychological follow-up for both spouses is necessary for the enhancement of the health and well-being of affected households.