Infertility-its causes, health seeking and treatment practices, and psychosocial consequences: Perceptions of Ilocano married childless women and community-based health providers

• Main Author: Padios, Luzviminda L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2002
• Subjects: Infertility; Medical care; Public health; Women; Woman's health services; Urban Studies and Planning
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/2961
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study explores the perceptions of the Ilocano childless women and the community-based health providers regarding the causes, health seeking and treatment practices and the psychosocial consequences of infertility. By employing purposive and chain referral sampling, 15 childless women and 6 health providers served as respondents. Qualitative method was employed and an in-depth interview was conducted. Results showed that infertility typified an unanticipated condition especially to the childless women. Both the childless women and the health providers attributed the incapability of producing a child to different causes, both biomedically and sociologically-based. However, majority of the perceived causes fell under biomedical factors. The most frequent causes answered by both groups of respondents were prolapse uterus, irregular menstruation, inverted uterus, heredity, and low sperm count. It can be noted that almost all the perceived causes of infertility by both groups of respondents were attributed to reproductive incapability of women, which makes the condition gender-biased. Both groups of respondents perceived that infertility is a curable condition provided a medical professional would be consulted. It was also found out that majority of the childless women have never consulted the rural health centers for their infertility. The childless women also sought the help of faith healers or spiritual healers. The health providers treated their childless clients in different manners, from the provision of contraceptive pills, vitamins, fertility pills, to massaging the abdomen and giving herbal plants/roots for concoction so as to promote fertility.The findings revealed that both the childless women and the health providers viewed that somehow self-esteem/identity, marital relationship, relationship with relatives, friends, and neighbors and social standing in the community were affected by the incapability to produce a baby. Based on the findings, there is not much difference on the perceptions of the childless women and the community-based health providers regarding the causes, health seeking and treatment practices as well as psychosocial consequences of infertility.