Perceptions about the cultural practices of male partners during postpartum care in rural Tanzania: a qualitative study

Figures & data

Table A1. An example of the coding process leading to the category ‘Men as providers and, occasionally, care takers’.

Meaning unit	Condensed meaning unit	Selected codes	Subcategories
When the postpartum mother comes back home, for us always there is her mother and my mother if she is alive. They might be there for a week caring but they cannot leave until the mother has enough energy as I go away to work and look for food, but when they go back, I remain alone taking care of her	When postpartum mother comes back home, her mother and my mother care for her. I go away to work and look for food. When they leave I remain alone taking care of her	Postpartum care at home Female relatives in charge of postpartum care Elders take care of postpartum mother Man goes away to work Man goes away to look for food Man caregiver when elders go away	Postpartum care support as women’s work Men participate in income-generating activities Men provide care postpartum

Table A2. Categories and subcategories referring to practices and perceptions of male partners in the postpartum period.

S/N	Categories	Subcategories
1.	Men as providers and, occasionally, care takers	Men provide care during postpartum Men participate in income-generating activities Postpartum care support as women’s work
2.	Men as decision makers	Men decide when to seek care Elderly women provide information to the male partner concerning a mother’s sickness Men as head of the household
3	Diverse perceptions of sexual abstinence	Men sleeping in another room within the household Extramarital relations as coping strategy during postpartum period Couples have sexual abstinence for three or four months depending on child’s gender
4.	Barriers for men in using/accompanying partners to use reproductive and child healthcare services	Society believes that women are controlling husband if he goes to healthcare services Lack of advocacy on male involvement from the healthcare system Female health workers giving reproductive health education make men feel shy Postpartum care services perceived to be of use for the baby and if complications to mothers arise