Does Husband's Education Level Matter to Antenatal Care Visits? A Study on Poor Households in Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Involvement in antenatal care (ANC) is one of the husband's responsibilities for his wife's health. OBJECTIVE: This study analyzed the contribution of the husband's education level to his involvement in ANC visits among poor households. METHODS: The study employed secondary data from the 2017 Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey. The study analyzed 6429 respondents. The analysis units were poor women aged 15–49 years, had a husband, and had ever been pregnant for the past 5 years. Besides husband's education, other independent variables analyzed were residence, husband's age and occupation, and wife's parity. The analysis used a binary logistic regression test in the final step. RESULTS: Husbands with a primary education record were 1.381 times more likely to participate in ANC visits than those without education. Husbands who had secondary education were 2.339 times more likely to get involved in ANC visits than those without education records. Moreover, husbands who had higher education were 3.376 times more likely to be engaged in ANC visits than those without education records. CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that better education levels will be more likely to motivate husbands to get involved in ANC visits.