Effects of support from spouse on child birth among rural Indian women.

Inadequate husband involvement remains a major barrier to effective birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPCR) for maternal and newborn care in rural India. Hence, a cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2025 to December 2025 at the Rural Health and Training Centre, Manglia, including 283 pregnant woman-husband dyads. The BPCR index was 45.86, indicating suboptimal preparedness in the study population. Significant associations were observed between husband involvement and completion of 4 ANC visits (OR=1.7), knowledge of one key danger sign of pregnancy (OR=1.8) and awareness of essential newborn care (OR=1.8). Thus, we show that husbands' participation is significantly linked to better BPCR-related practices, supporting their inclusion in maternal counselling strategies.