Department of Health Sciences, Northern Arizona University.
Afr J Reprod Health. 2022 Jul;26(7):112-126. doi: 10.29063/ajrh2022/v26i7.12.
Relatively little is known about infertility experiences among women in rural Malawi and the impact of infertility on women's marital and family relations. This article examines the perspectives of women and health care providers regarding women's concepts of reproductive health and attitudes toward infertility. The paper explores the supports and barriers to managing infertility at the individual, household, and community levels. The data presented was drawn from semi-structured interviews with health care providers and patients within a prevention of mother to child transmission program and focus group discussions with community men and women in four communities in Southern Malawi. Seventy-eight patients, 12 health care providers, and 32 community leaders participated in the study. The findings suggest that gender inequities and kinship relations intersect to produce infertility related stigma which exacerbates the social and cultural consequences of being infertile in these study communities. Social support from other women experiencing infertility is one strategy to help women manage the social and cultural burden of infertility in these study communities. These results shed light on the meaning of motherhood to women living in rural and peri-urban Sub-Saharan African communities and call for an expansion of infertility services, social services, and mental health services for both women and men who experience infertility.
相对而言，人们对马拉维农村地区女性的不孕经历及其对女性婚姻和家庭关系的影响知之甚少。本文探讨了女性和医疗保健提供者对女性生殖健康观念和对不孕态度的看法。本文探讨了在个人、家庭和社区层面管理不孕的支持和障碍。本文提出的资料来自于在预防母婴传播项目中的医疗保健提供者和患者的半结构式访谈，以及在马拉维南部四个社区的男性和女性社区成员的焦点小组讨论。78 名患者、12 名医疗保健提供者和 32 名社区领导参与了这项研究。研究结果表明，性别不平等和亲属关系交织在一起，导致与不孕相关的耻辱感加剧了这些研究社区中不孕的社会和文化后果。来自其他经历不孕的女性的社会支持是帮助这些研究社区的女性应对不孕带来的社会和文化负担的一种策略。这些结果揭示了生活在撒哈拉以南非洲农村和城乡结合部社区的女性对母性的意义，并呼吁扩大不孕服务、社会服务和心理健康服务，为经历不孕的女性和男性提供服务。
