Kankanaey women's fertility beliefs and practices: A comparison of two generations

• Main Author: Ladia, Mary Ann J.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1997
• Subjects: Fertility; Human; Belief and doubt; Philippines > Social life and customs; Generations; Women health services; Ethnic groups; Kankanay (Philippine people); Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1798
• Institution: De La Salle University

This descriptive study compared intergenerational fertility beliefs and practices among Kankanaey mothers and their youngest married daughters in Suyo, Sagada, Mountain Province. Purposive sampling was used to get mother-daughter pairs as informants. Key informants and secondary data were other sources of information. An interview guide was used to gather primary data. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were encoded and processed manually. Means, mode, ranges, frequency distributions and percentages were utilized. Content analysis was done. The mothers are older by 29 years than their youngest married daughters. Mothers have lower educational attainment and income, more children, and have longer marriage duration. The youngest married daughters married at an earlier age (19) than their mothers (20). Both generations are mostly Anglicans. The two generations are similar in some of their fertility beliefs and practices. The actual number of children of both generations does not resemble that of the older generation. Neither the mothers nor the youngest daughters, in general, have desired number of children's offsprings. Except for some who migrated, both generations, in general, have no beliefs and practices with regard to food craving, preferences and taboos. The cutting of the umbilical cord and disposal of the placenta is practiced the same way for both generations because even those who do not know the belief behind the practice still live with their parents or parents-in-law who carry on the usual practice. Agbagkat ti nadagsen or carrying heavy loads, however, is not a permissible task. Kulkulong and two-to-three-month rest period are observed by bothe generations. There is no method, modern or traditional, used to prevent pregnancy even if their religion, Anglican permit the contraceptive use. Breastfeeding, though practiced by both generations, is not known to them as having properties to space the number of children. Abortion is not practiced by both generations as this runs counter to other fertility beliefs. They are different in terms of the value of children: economic for mothers and psycho-socio-economic for the youngest married daughters. Also, mothers desire more children. Most of the informants, being gender fair, have no sex preference and can not predict the sex of the unborn infant except for three youngest married daughters. Home delivery is also practiced by both generations with husband attending the mothers, and husbands, or relatives and/or health personnel for the youngest married daughters. The similarities in intergenerational fertility beliefs and practices may be accounted for by religion, household size and composition, age at marriage while the differences may be explained by the following: age, educational attainment, occupation, monthly income, duration of marriage, and actual number of children.