A review on different aspects of men's participation in antenatal care

Nowadays, the participation of men in prenatal care is emphasized by international institutions to improve the health and reduce mortality of mothers and children. The purpose of this study was to review the various aspects of men participation in prenatal care. Methods All of the articles published since 2005 to 2016 containing full texts which were archived in SID, Medlib, Magiran, IranMedex, Google Scholar and Pubmed were searched with the keywords of “Men” and “the empowerment of women with prenatal care” in both Persian and English languages. After the initial investigation and search on the basis of sources, a total of 7 Persian and 28 English articles were included in this study. Results The results showed that the participation of men in prenatal care exerts positive effects on mother-infant outcomes. Increasing the expectations of women and core families are of the most important reasons showing the necessity of men participation in prenatal care. However, despite the positive attitude of couples towards men's participation, barriers such as lack of awareness among men and their undefined role in the field of prenatal care, economic and cultural issues and health system problems are the obstacles for men to cooperate in prenatal care. Conclusion Considering the important role of men in different areas of women's life and the positive effects of their participation in reproductive health of women, different strategies should be used to promote men's participation in order to introduce them to different aspects of fertility. Therefore, further research in this field seems necessary.