Husband's role in handling pregnancy complications in Mangochi District, Malawi: A call for increased focus on community level male involvement.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the current study is to provide information about husbands' role in decision-making and healthcare seeking in cases of pregnancy complications in Mangochi district, Malawi with an analysis of qualitative interviews using the concepts of "capital" and "field" from Bourdieu's social field theory.

STUDY DESIGN: Twelve husbands and wives who had experienced pregnancy complications and six key informants from a semi-rural area of Mangochi district were interviewed individually. Thematic analysis was conducted based on the concepts of capital and field in Bourdieu's social field theory.

RESULTS: Husbands have significant economic and symbolic capital in decisions about healthcare seeking during instances of pregnancy complications as a result of their roles as father, head of the household and main income earner. Lack of money is the only acceptable reason for husbands to deny their wives healthcare. Husbands have limited access to knowledge of maternal health, which can compromise their decisions about seeking healthcare. Joint decision-making within families can be bypassed to allow for prompt healthcare seeking in emergencies.

CONCLUSIONS: Husbands are important decision makers regarding seeking healthcare for pregnancy complications because of their economic and symbolic power and despite their limited access to knowledge of maternal health. Maternal healthcare seeking practices would benefit from wives gaining an empowered role as well as improved knowledge of maternal health among husbands.