Impact of Online Husband Class on Pregnancy Care Behavior

Background: The role of husbands as the primary source of support in maternal and infant health is well-documented. However, there is still room for improvement in regards with their practical behaviour during the pregnancy care, including their participation in antenatal classes. The primary reasons of the husband's low participation in antenatal classes are time constraints and inconvenience. This study aims to determine the impact of online antenatal class methods implementation in regards with the husbands' behaviour in pregnancy care. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted in Magelang City, Central Java with sample size of 170 husbands. The utilized data collection is validated and reliable questionnaires. Independent T-tests were used to assess the difference between the intervention and control groups. General Linear Model Repeated Measures (GLM-RM) tests were conducted to determine changes in the value of variables at three measurements. Results: The results demonstrated that the intervention group exhibited higher values than the control group in three measurements. The online husband class intervention was found to enhance their knowledge by 4.269 points, their belief by 1.940 points, the attitude by 5.442 points, their intention by 3.492 points, and lead to practice by 12.00 points compared to the control group. Conclusion: The participation of the husband in online antenatal classes positively influences the quality of pregnancy care behaviors. Online methods in antenatal classes for husbands are an effective strategy to increase husbands' engagement in antenatal education programs, and improve pregnancy care behaviors. This can inform in designing antenatal care programs that involve husbands.