essay on childbearing

• Women and Their Decisions Regarding Childbearing Words: 900
• Effective Strategies for Women with Emotional Problems Words: 830
• Psychological Well-Being of Captive Animals and Types of Enrichment Words: 565
• Risk in Psychological Research Words: 881
• Psychological Well-Being in Recovering From Addictive Behaviors Words: 2456
• Compulsive Buying in Women: Psychological Research Words: 590
• The Impact of Divorce on Children’s Psychological Wellbeing Words: 1400
• What Is the Psychological Contract? Words: 1626
• Psychological Research Methods: Behavior and Mental Processes Words: 582
• Online Social Media Fatigue and Psychological Wellbeing Words: 837

Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being

The research topic of this study addresses the extent to which major decisions females aged between 21 and 55 make concerning childbearing and companionship are affected by their inadequateness and abandonment (or fear of abandonment). This population is chosen as females of this age (in the vast majority of cases) make such decisions on their own using their experience and background. The keywords associated with this study include female, abandonment, companionship, childbearing, inadequateness, psychology.

When searching for the necessary sources, these keywords were used. Notably, I added the keyword ‘psychology’ to narrow down the scope of sources as it turned out that these topics are often studied in such spheres as organizational management, literature, and healthcare (nursing, to be more exact). The search was implemented with the help of the EBSCO searching tools as this is an effective platform where thousands of relevant sources can be found.

The brief analysis of the literature available on the topic reveals the existence of certain concerns on the matter. Thus, inadequateness is regarded as quite a common feature many women have. Rutten et al. (2015) note that inadequateness has an impact on the way women develop relationships. Shorey, Stuart, and Anderson (2014) also focus on this concept and claim that females’ views on themselves and their place in the world affect their behavioral patterns.

The researchers stress that this is especially true for such vulnerable groups as substance abusers, but non-vulnerable groups are also affected considerably. Importantly, these sources contribute to the knowledge base as they provide insights into the way abandonment affects females’ behavior (and choices). Doron et al. (2012) also focus on the way females’ views on themselves and the world affect their behaviors.

The researchers note that females may even develop an obsessive-compulsive disorder that, in its turn, enhances their attachment anxiety. At that, these studies do not show the way inadequateness influences women’s choices concerning childbearing and companionship, which are crucial in females’ lives.

Abandonment has also become a topic of extensive research. Halford and Sweeper (2013) claim that abandonment is often associated with anxiety and the development of depressive symptoms in women. Such experiences often shape females’ behavior and decisions when it comes to companionships. This source contributes significantly to the knowledge base as it provides insights into the way abandonment affects women’s behavior. Nonetheless, little attention is paid to such areas as companionship and childbearing.

The research by Huijts, Kraaykamp, and Subramanian (2013) stands out against the sources mentioned above as it has a slightly different focus. The researchers address the issues concerning childbearing. They trace the correlation between females’ well-being and childlessness in several countries. The source is important for this research as it identifies one of the factors affecting women’s well-being as well as their choices. Huijts et al. (2013) claim that women perceive their childlessness less negatively in societies with tolerant norms associated with childbearing. Although this source does not address such issues as abandonment and inadequateness directly and in detail, it provides valuable insights into the way these concepts are connected.

It is necessary to add that the articles reviewed are relevant and recent, which makes them valuable for the present study. They provide relevant information concerning the issues related to the research topic of this study. Although they do not pay much attention to the way abandonment and inadequateness correlate with companionship and childbearing, the articles address different facets of these concepts.

Doron, G., Moulding, R., Nedeljkovic, M., Kyrios, M., Mikulincer, M., & Sar-El, D. (2012). Adult attachment insecurities are associated with the obsessive compulsive disorder. Psychology and psychotherapy: Theory, research and practice , 85 (2), 163-178.

Halford, W., & Sweeper, S. (2013). Trajectories of adjustment to couple relationship separation. Family Process , 52 (2), 228-243.

Huijts, T., Kraaykamp, G., & Subramanian, S. (2013). Childlessness and psychological well-being in context: A multilevel study on 24 European countries. European Sociological Review , 29 (1), 32-47.

Rutten, E., Bachrach, N., Van Balkom, A., Braeken, J., Ouwens, M., & Bekker, M. (2015). Anxiety, depression and autonomy-connectedness: The mediating role of alexithymia and assertiveness. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice , 1-17.

Shorey, R., Stuart, G., & Anderson, S. (2014). Differences in early maladaptive schemas between a sample of young adult female substance abusers and a non-clinical comparison group. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy , 21 (1), 21-28.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2020, November 2). Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being. https://studycorgi.com/childbearing-and-psychological-well-being/

"Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being." StudyCorgi , 2 Nov. 2020, studycorgi.com/childbearing-and-psychological-well-being/.

StudyCorgi . (2020) 'Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being'. 2 November.

1. StudyCorgi . "Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being." November 2, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/childbearing-and-psychological-well-being/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being." November 2, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/childbearing-and-psychological-well-being/.

StudyCorgi . 2020. "Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being." November 2, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/childbearing-and-psychological-well-being/.

This paper, “Childbearing and Psychological Well-Being”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: November 2, 2020 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

Global Evidence on Childbearing and Women’s Employment

Gender gaps in labor market outcomes vary greatly around the world. In  The Child Penalty Atlas  (NBER Working Paper 31649),  Henrik Kleven ,  Camille Landais , and  Gabriel Leite-Mariante  examine whether the large differences in gender gaps can be explained by differences in the impact of family formation — marriage and childbirth — on women relative to men. The researchers focus on gender gaps in employment, defining the “child penalty” as the impact of the birth of a first child on the gap in employment rates between women and men.

As incomes rise and economies transition from subsistence farming toward salaried work in industry and services, childbearing has a larger negative effect on women’s employment.

The study includes data from 134 countries representing more than 95 percent of the world’s population. It primarily draws on cross-sectional survey data. The researchers find that child penalties are present in most countries of the world, but that their magnitude varies widely, even among neighboring countries and among regions within the same country. In undeveloped, primarily agricultural economies, the birth of a child has little effect on gender inequality in employment rates. But  as incomes rise and employment moves from subsistence farming toward more structured industry and service sectors, childbirth is increasingly associated with women’s absence from the labor force.

Having a child in Denmark reduces a woman’s likelihood of holding a job by 14 percent, and the effects are also small in other Scandinavian countries. The impact is much larger in most central European countries; it is 50 percent, for example, in the Czech Republic. The impact is sizable in southern Europe but with sharp divides. It is twice as large in Spain — where gender gaps are large regardless of parental status — as in Portugal. The persistence of child penalties after the first childbirth also varies among European countries. In the Czech Republic, for example, the penalty drops from nearly 100 percent just after birth to only 20 percent after 10 years, while in Denmark the penalty stays at 14 percent following parenthood.

In contrast to the cross-country variation in Europe, the impact of childbearing on Latin American women is broadly similar across the region, with a 35 to 50 percent gap that persists long after giving birth. Only a few countries in the Caribbean, including Cuba and Haiti, display smaller and less persistent gaps.

The data from African nations highlight the impact of economic development. New mothers in Central Africa, where subsistence economies dominate, experience little change in work patterns compared with men. By contrast, in Morocco the gap is 41 percent and in South Africa, 28 percent.

Asian nations exemplify the rural/urban divide. The child penalty in Beijing is 12 percent, compared with 4 percent in China as a whole; the penalty in Ho Chi Minh City is 25 percent compared with just 1 percent in Vietnam as a whole. Rural jobs are more likely to be flexible and family friendly than more structured, salaried positions in cities. There are also very large differences in the impact of childbirth across the Asian continent: child penalties are very large in the Middle East, South Asia, and Japan, while they are modest in Southeast Asia and China.

The arrival of children explains most of the gender gap in employment in North America, Europe, and Australia. It also explains a large share of the gender gap in Latin America. Elsewhere, factors that predate the arrival of children — including marriage, education, and cultural norms — appear to play a greater role.

— Steve Maas

Camille Landais acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council consolidator grant #101001464, from Pivotal Ventures, and from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Researchers

NBER periodicals and newsletters may be reproduced freely with appropriate attribution.

More from NBER

In addition to working papers , the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter , the NBER Digest , the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability , the Bulletin on Health , and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship  — as well as online conference reports , video lectures , and interviews .

© 2023 National Bureau of Economic Research. Periodical content may be reproduced freely with appropriate attribution.

Saved Through Childbearing

Children have a way of stretching you beyond what you think you can bear. They are both blessing and cross; joy you never thought you could experience and pain you wish you never did.

PUBLISHED ON

August 30, 2024

Orthodox. Faithful. Free.

Sign up to get  Crisis  articles delivered to your inbox daily

Join the Conversation

Comments are a benefit for financial supporters of Crisis. If you are a monthly or annual supporter, please login to comment. A Crisis account has been created for you using the email address you used to donate.

Published on

Editor's picks

Anti-catholic revolution and catholic revival , bill maher: the prophet we need, dignitas infinita and the idolization of man, remaining faithfully catholic near the end of the francis pontificate , your cart is empty, signup to receive new crisis articles daily.

A Critique of the Study: Childbearing Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Setting and sample, data analysis.

The information gathered in research is useful in developing of a grounded theory while the right method of research leads to understanding of the phenomenology of the study. In order to analyze a research effectively, there is need to follow certain guidelines that are useful in coming up with the right conclusion from the research (David, 2009).

This paper provides a critique of the study that was conducted in a group of traditional birth attendants in one of the communities in Guatemala. Childbearing continues to become a problem in developing countries with high rates of infant mortality and morbidity. In addition, it is estimated that either inexperienced family members or TBAs conduct at least 95% of all births in rural areas in developing countries. In Guatemala, professional birth attendants are trusted with the responsibility of assisting in child bearing. A research was conducted by professional investigator regarding the beliefs of these women towards prenatal practice and how they regard the practice as effective. The report of the research needs to be critiqued to know the level of validity of the findings. This paper explains the methods that were used to critique the report. It explains the validity of their beliefs and rituals in the practice of prenatal care and how these beliefs and rituals can be helpful in adding knowledge to the practice of nursing. It provides a critique of ethnographic techniques used in understanding the practices of Mayan TBAs.

The use of ethnographic techniques ensured that in-depth information was gathered regarding the beliefs and behaviors of people in natural settings. Traditional methods with participant observation ensured that observation and participation was used in exploring the world of traditional birth attendants. Participation allowed interaction between members of the community and the researchers. Observation ensured that the researchers visited the homes of pregnant women and determined the resources that were available for assisting the women during birth.

Observation in the homes of comadronas enabled the researchers identify the resources that were being used to assist women during birth and also artifacts and rocks that were placed in certain places to show they were sacred. Ethnographic research ensured that the researchers immersed themselves into the community under study and interacted with the comadronas and pregnant women to develop familiarity with lifeways of the members of the community.

By using a principal investigator (PI) with an experience of more than 25 years and who had been working with community birth attendants and health promoters in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala the research gave concrete information on its findings. This ensured that the relevant areas of study were focused on by interviewing the right comadronas, the right materials were used during the interviews and confidence of the results was developed.

The use of audio tapes and field notes that were used by the PI provided reference sources for the observations and responses from the comadronas, physical artifacts and environment in which midwifery was conducted. However, this research lacked a clear and comprehensive description of the location, samples intensity and the competitiveness of the researcher in collecting data. It is also hard to ascertain that the qualitative attitudes and beliefs from the TBAs are obtained from traditional birth attendants who have experienced the effects of those beliefs and know the rituals that women undergo during delivery (Patricia, 2008).

The study aims at obtaining information from traditional birth attendants in a local community where poverty was high and there were high chances of traditional midwifery. As a result, the study was focused on San Lucas Toliman in Guatemala that was composed of 82% indigenous inhabitant Mayans. The research was simplified since almost all births in the Mayan community are attended by TBAs. The practicing comadronas in these communities provided the right participants during the research. This sample size leaves out representative aspect of a research. This left out the aspect of broad sampling is by not including a range of perspectives and opinions (Irvin , S.2006).

Forty comadronas were interviewed to ensure the possibility of correlating their responses. The use of probes ensured that data concerning symbols, rituals as well as transformational processes and the beliefs of the comadonas were determined. The use of transcription enabled the information from the research to be converted from local languages to English and Spanish. This ensured the information could be shared with health promoters and other participants to ensure accuracy of the research.

Transcriptions of individual behaviors and notes were conducted; rocks and amulets were examined to ensure validity and reliability of the findings of the research. Reliability of the findings was also ensured by describing interpersonal and cultural settings and exploration of birth cultures. Notes and codes developed from the research were reviewed and discussed to ensure a consensus was reached. The results from these codes provided information that enabled categorizing the findings of the beliefs of the comadronas.

Evaluation method involved the determination of plausibility, credibility, and relevance.

Plausibility was accomplished by examining the results of the research based on the findings from other sources of literature and the findings of the local members of the community. Sharing of the findings of the analysis with selected participants and health promoters ensured that credibility and respondent validation was achieved.

A review of the draft document and verbal confirmation of accurate representation was done by health promoters and two comadronas that were able to read Spanish. In order to show the validity of the findings, they were read to the local women in the community who showed their agreement with the results.

During subsequent visit to San Lucas Toliman, the themes of the research were shared with the local people and the PI to prove that the results showed the actual experiences of the comadronas. The use of Longitudinal descriptive design left issue of bias not fully addressed in the report.

During qualitative research, the major methods used in data collection are questionnaires, interviews, and observation. However, it is necessary to use the right method based on a situation of a qualitative research. For instance, it is not logical to use observation in recording responses regarding patients’ thoughts towards a certain treatment (Carmel et al, 2010). The PI and the nurse researcher need to ensure that they record the attitudes and beliefs of mothers that have been assisted during delivery by TBAs.

The study ensured that the relationship between the researcher and participants was considered by immersion into the community for at least 25 years. In addition, the results of the findings were read to the comadronas and the local people to confirm their approval of the findings of the study. This ensured that the data was not only valid, but also consistent with the aims of the research.

In conclusion, I would affirm that this research was carried following many aspects required in a quality research. Its methodology was good its lack of full address on bias and proper sample representation.

Carmel et al. (2010). Canadian Essentials of Nursing Research. London: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

David, S. (2009). Doing Qualitative Research. NY: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Irvin , S. (2006). Interviewing As Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education And the Social Sciences. London: Teachers College Press.

Patricia, L. &. (2008). Qualitative Research Proposals and Reports: A Guide. NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

• Hypoparathyroid Disease: Review
• Participating in a Practice-Based Research Network
• Mamphela Ramphele and Maria Elena Lucas in History
• Taming One’s Id in Yann Martel's "Life of Pi"
• "The Judgement of Paris" by Lucas Cranach the Elder
• Catheter-Associated Infections: Systematic Review
• Self-Examination and Knowledge of Breast Cancer Among Female Students
• Turning Patients Every 2 Hours to Prevent Pressure Ulcers
• Aging as Social Problem in North American Society
• Teamwork in the Nursing Healthcare Environment
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, May 3). A Critique of the Study: Childbearing. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-critique-of-the-study-childbearing/

"A Critique of the Study: Childbearing." IvyPanda , 3 May 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/a-critique-of-the-study-childbearing/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'A Critique of the Study: Childbearing'. 3 May.

IvyPanda . 2022. "A Critique of the Study: Childbearing." May 3, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-critique-of-the-study-childbearing/.

1. IvyPanda . "A Critique of the Study: Childbearing." May 3, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-critique-of-the-study-childbearing/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "A Critique of the Study: Childbearing." May 3, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-critique-of-the-study-childbearing/.

Nursing Clio

The Personal is Historical

Sisterhood Subpoenaed: Abortion on Trial at an 1892 Women’s Medical College

Courtroom dramas are a television staple. If the Good Wife isn’t your cup of tea, there is Law and Order, […]

Mary, Did You Know?: An Essay on Christmas Carols, Medical History, and Reproductive Politics

The Christmas season is a curious time for a historian of women’s health, abortion, and maternal politics: at its historical […]

Feminist Bodies, Feminist Selves

I have never known a person who was 100% content with everything about their body, 100% of the time. The […]

We Grow Accustomed to the Dark

Unless we’re toiling away in an English PhD program, most of us don’t pause in our daily lives to read […]

When our Patreon gets to $500/month, we’ll be able to compensate our writers. This has been a long-term goal of Nursing Clio; now you can help us reach it! If you enjoy our content, support us and our writers by becoming a member of our Patreon.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing

How it works

Imagine waking up as a sixteen-year-old girl, and having to rush into the restroom with morning sickness. Your head is hung over the open toilet lid, and your heart is racing because you have missed a period. As you sneak out to the nearest drugstore and shamefully purchase the pregnancy tests, you pray that no one notices you are there. Shuffling back into the front door of the house, you try to hurriedly make it back to the bathroom without letting mom and dad see what is inside of the bag.

Then as soon as you shut the restroom door, you rip open the cardboard box and tear apart the crumply plastic that encases the little pink-white sticks; small, plastic sticks that can completely change your life as you know it. Our state is in the top ten for the highest teen birth rates in the United States (“Stats of the State of Louisiana”), and teenage pregnancy affects thirty-one girls per every one thousand in Louisiana (“Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing”). Not only are every one of these girls affected physically, but their futures and babies also experience social and economic repercussions. The problems of having a child at a young age are the lowered levels of females’ education, the increase in the family’s financial issues, and the increase in the probability of the child being unsuccessful.

The physical effects and risks of teenage childbearing are gruesome. Not only does the nine month pregnancy take an especially large toll on the younger bodies, but it has also been shown that young women are at higher risk than older women are to many complications. Some of these problems include: PROM, Preeclampsia, and Cephalopelvic disproportion (Mundhe 148-149). PROM (prelabor rupture of membranes) is the breaking of the amniotic sac before the beginning of labor. Preeclampsia is a condition that could possibly impair the unborn baby’s kidneys and liver function, cause blood clots, pulmonary edema (fluid in lungs), seizures, and possibly lead to the infant’s death. Lastly, there is cephalopelvic disproportion which is when a baby’s head/body is too large to fit through the mother’s pelvis. All of these medical conditions are incredibly terrible for the body, have the possibility to end the teen’s life, and are enough reasons to not have a baby as a teen by themselves.

Not only are there several physical complications with teen pregnancy, there are several social, ethical, and economical complications as well. Thirty percent of all female high school dropouts claim that they left their education behind due to becoming pregnant (Marshall). Although having a higher education like college isn’t necessary to get a job, having a high school diploma is required the majority of the time. Whether someone is applying for a job at McDonald’s or for a receptionist position in a tiny office building, a high school education is helpful. Even if a person were to be hired onto a staff without having finished high school, it would be less likely that they would be the first to be thought of for promotions and special opportunities. Businesses want educated and experienced people in charge of their locations. With this being said, this makes it even more of a challenge for these single mothers to earn enough money to support their families.

Not only do these females work some of the lower paying jobs on the spectrum, but many of them work less hours due to their children at home (Hofferth). This leads to less job promotions and opportunities, as well as leaving lots of women out of a job. For some of these women, finding a new job may be no problem; however, there are women who may not be able to afford interview clothing or have the necessary supplies available to them to apply. At this time, many people would find a local library’s computer and printer to use to apply for a job and put together a resume, yet others may attempt to find “easier” ways out. These paths can occasionally lead to these young ladies lowering their standards and motivation toward their careers. Many of these “lesser” occupations barely pay enough money for these women to feed their kids. This problem not only affects the women, but has a lot to do with the unsuccessful future of their children.

Per the Urban Child Institute, children who are born to teen parents are less likely to learn the basic skills that should be implemented at a young age, more likely to be depressed and emotionally disconnected, and are more likely to repeat their parents’ mistakes (Urban Child Institute). Dr. Bryan Kolb states that, “Brain development is very rapid in the womb and continues at an accelerated rate in the first two to three years [of a child’s life] in particular.” This means that the first few years of a child’s life are the most important for laying down the foundation for their future. Yet devastatingly enough, most children born to teenage parents won’t learn the basic language, cognitive, and behavioral skills needed to succeed. This isn’t always because the mother doesn’t care, but is because she isn’t aware of how to properly prepare and educate her baby boy or girl at home (Urban Child Institute). Either way, instead of learning these foundational skills, the toddlers begin to mimic their parents’ lifestyles; the manner in which they speak, the way they behave in public, and the way they respond to people and certain situations. Research also shows that teen parents are more likely to be harsh to their children for the following reasons: their lack of life experiences, vulnerability to frustration and irritability, and resentment towards the baby (Urban Child Institute). Usually this means young, ill-prepared parents will do more spanking and yelling and other less suggested discipline tactics. A negative effect to this choice in parenting is the increased depression symptoms and underdeveloped social and emotional skills. With all of the mentioned things above being the only things many of these children are taught, they are led to believe that these things are socially correct and decide not to change their practices as they age. In conclusion, the children and parents’ lives may tend to play out similarly as time progresses.

Even though there are many miniscule solutions we could begin to exercise for these problems, lessening teen pregnancy as a whole would wipe out the majority of these problems almost completely. One solution for teenage pregnancy is putting more educational, sexual health classes in schools. Teaching teenagers about the parts of their body and doing the “condom-on-banana” demonstration isn’t cutting it anymore. Schools and local education and government boards need to work together and begin to create a new curriculum that combines the traditional sex-ed and contraceptive education. Many teens who choose to have sex are unaware of all of their options. From condoms, to birth control pills, to arm implants, there are many ways to prevent pregnancies.

A second solution would be to change up the abstinence only pregnancy prevention programs. Many people have been led to believe that the abstinence only education works the best; however, contrary to popular belief, abstinence only education has been found to increase adolescent births (Fox 502). Research has actually found that a combination of abstinence only and safe sex practice education works most effectively at lowering the numbers of pregnant teens (Fox 503). Teaching pregnancy prevention lessons that are more realistic and comprehensible affect teens way more than telling them no and not teaching them much else.

The third solution suggests that parents should definitely encourage their children to wait to have sex, but should help them and be available to them if they are having sex or get pregnant. Most parents go on a rampage when they discover their children are sexually active, but this isn’t the most effective route. Studies have actually shown that teens and children react negatively when treated or disciplined in a negative way (Department of Health). So while parents may be trying to teach the child, they will drive them and their child apart and have a negative effect on their overall relationship. The Urban Child Institute actually shows that a more loving home environment prepares teens for problems they will face later in life, and helps them learn about themselves and the world around them.

Skeptics of more broadly educational sex-ed classes claim that many parents don’t want their child exposed to this in a school setting; however, where would be a better setting? Would you rather want your child to get this information from an educated professional or their friends on a random Saturday night? These classes in schools should be safe places for questions to be answered and more practical information to be shared. The more informed the children are, the less likely they are to become pregnant. Similarly, critics of implementing more comprehensive, adolescent pregnancy preventions programs may say that implementing more mainstream programs will be too expensive and won’t affect the adolescent pregnancy rates as much as abstinence only programs did; yet they are incorrect because if we lessen the overall pregnancy rates, that will eliminate most of the medical funding that is needed; those leftover funds could go towards new programs. And despite what people think, studies showed that abstinence only pregnancy prevention programs had no effect on the teen birth rates (Fox 497).

Taking into consideration all of the problems revolving around teen pregnancy, there should be more steps taken towards ending it all together. Between the negative effects on teenage females bodies, their futures being jeopardized, and their children’s futures being put at risk, this should be a more heavily discussed issue. Many solutions can and should be implemented in the educational and governmental systems. Hopefully then, we can better decrease and diminish teen pregnancy.

Cite this page

Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing. (2020, Jul 06). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing/

"Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing." PapersOwl.com , 6 Jul 2020, https://papersowl.com/examples/teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing/

PapersOwl.com. (2020). Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing/ [Accessed: 6 Sep. 2024]

"Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing." PapersOwl.com, Jul 06, 2020. Accessed September 6, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing/

"Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing," PapersOwl.com , 06-Jul-2020. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing/. [Accessed: 6-Sep-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2020). Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing/ [Accessed: 6-Sep-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• J Educ Health Promot

Understanding the rationales behind childbearing: A qualitative study based on extended theory of planned behavior

Babak moeini.

Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

Amir Erfani

1 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Science, Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada

Majid Barati

2 Department of Public Health, School of Health, Autism Spectrum Disorders Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

Amin Doosti-Irani

3 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

Hatam Hosseini

4 Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

5 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Science, Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada,

Mokhtar Soheylizad

6 Department of Public Health, School of Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

BACKGROUND:

Childbearing is the most important determinant of population fluctuations and its studies are more important than other population phenomena. Many factors are associated with childbearing, but individual factors associated with it have been less studied in a specific framework. The present study aimed to explore and identify the factors related to childbearing based on extended theory of planned behavior (ETPB).

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This qualitative study was conducted among married women <35 years of age and married men whose spouses were under 35 years of age and lived in the City of Hamadan, Iran, in 2019. The data were collected by semistructured and face-to-face in-depth interviews and continued until the data saturation was reached. Overall, 15 interviews were conducted with 17 people. The data were analyzed, using a directed content analysis approach.

The data analysis resulted in the extraction of 28 main codes, 9 subcategories, and 4 themes, which were correspond to constructs of the theory, consisting of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and social support in the field of childbearing. The main predictors were attitude toward childbearing and perceived control.

CONCLUSION:

The findings of this study showed that ETPB has a potential to explain the intention and behavior of childbearing. The ETPB makes it possible to understand many of the factors associated with childbearing. The results of this study could be the basis for designing appropriate data collection instrument in quantitative studies and vast surveys.

Introduction

Iran is one of the developing countries that has experienced a sharp decline in fertility worldwide.[ 1 ] This declining trend has been such that the total fertility rate has decreased from 6.3 in 1986[ 2 ] to 1.98 in 2000 and in 2018 it has reached 1.62.[ 3 ] According to the results of the last census in 2016, among the provinces of Iran, Hamedan, located in the West of Iran, with a population growth rate of −0.23, had the lowest population growth rate in Iran.[ 4 ] On the other hand, the total fertility rate in this province was 1.5, which is estimated 1.4 in urban areas and 1.6 in rural areas.[ 5 ]

Reducing fertility below the replacement level has significant negative effects on the economic, social, and cultural structures of society. Including the adverse consequence of low fertility is change in population structure called population aging, which results in lack of economic growth and development, lack of social welfare, and the imposition of heavy costs on the health system.[ 6 ] Therefore, population policies that reduce these consequences have been significantly considered.[ 7 ] However, any population policy and planning must be taken into account in all aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to know and achieve a correct understanding of the formation of childbearing behavior as well as the intention to have children, because intention is a key factor and immediate determinant of childbearing behavior.[ 8 ] Recently, this issue is often examined in the theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework in demographic researches.[ 9 ] On the other hand, the applicability of TPB in the field of fertility has been demonstrated in several studies.[ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] The results of these studies confirm the decision of the researchers of the present study to use this theory as a theoretical framework of the study. On the other hand, married women <35 years of age and married men whose spouses were under 35 years of age were selected as the target group of this study, because the intention to have children is more affected by their current situation and the near future of their living conditions and society. While the childbearing intention of young unmarried people is more affected by social norms and the fertility intention of middle-aged; but elderly married people is more affected by the number of their living children. Therefore, the fertility level of the society in the future depends a lot on the fertility intention of the mentioned group.[ 8 ]

According to the TPB, the intention to have or not to have a child is determined by three types of immediate determinants, including attitude toward having children, subjective norm of having a child, and perceived control over having a child.[ 10 ] On the other hand, there are many other factors that affect the childbearing behavior, including individual, family, social, economic, and cultural factors.[ 12 ] When it is determined in a study that a particular factor affects fertility behavior, the TPB allows us to examine this finding by tracking the effects of that particular factor on three immediate determinants of childbearing intention.[ 10 ] One of the factors affecting childbearing, especially in Iranian Society, which has been proven in several studies, is social support.[ 13 , 14 , 15 ] Therefore, in the present study, we decided to add this concept to the TPB and extend it, and consequently, the extended TPB (ETPB) was used as a conceptual framework for the study.

Studies based on TPB in the field of fertility and childbearing have often been quantitative. Usually, such studies have not been required to the precise use of a standard approach to identify important beliefs in TPB; in other words, they do not use qualitative research with a representative sample from the target community to gain a deep and accurate understanding of childbearing behavior and intent. As a result, they have not been able to extract ideas and beliefs that could later be used as closed questions in quantitative studies and surveys.[ 10 , 16 ] The choice of theory can help focus on the research question. The aim of this study was to answer the question, what are the factors related to childbearing in the form of the ETPB? which was done using the qualitative research in the city of Hamadan.

Materials and Methods

Study design and setting.

This qualitative study was conducted in the city of Hamadan, West of Iran, in 2019.

Study participants and sampling

Based on the inclusion criteria, the married women <35 years of age and married men whose spouses were under 35 years of age and lived in the city of Hamadan participated in the study. Exclusion criteria included unwillingness to continue participating in the study. In the first step, the city of Hamadan was divided into five geographical areas, including the north, south, west, east, and center; thus, the difference in the socioeconomic status of the participants in their selection was considered. Participants were then purposively selected from those who visited the Comprehensive Health Services Centers (CHSC) and those who lived in these areas. In this study, to achieve the most different perspectives and perceptions, in selecting participants, maximum diversity in terms of age, gender, duration of matrimony, number of children, education, and occupation was considered.

Data collection tool and technique

This qualitative study was a framework analysis that was conducted using directed content analysis approach. The data were collected by semistructured and face-to-face interviews over a 5-month period, May to November 2019. The interviews were conducted in workplace, home, or one of the rooms of the CHSC and with the permission of the participants by voice recording. Due to some cultural and religious considerations and the fact that there are limitations in the interactions between men and women in Iranian Society, to create a comfortable environment, interviews with some female participants were conducted by the female interviewer (a clinical psychologist) and other interviews by the male interviewer. To guide the interviews, an interview guide was used, which was developed based on the constructs of ETPB. This guide included the following questions:

• What do you think are the benefits of having a child?
• What do you think are the disadvantages of having a child?
• Are there people in your life who think you should have another child/children?
• In your opinion, what conditions in your life can facilitate or interfere with childbearing?
• Who and how can support you in childbearing? What kind of support?

In this study, 13 people participated in individual interviews. Two interviews were conducted simultaneously with the couple, in order to obtain more information, it was necessary to create a discussion between the couple. Therefore, 15 interviews were conducted with 17 people. The duration of each interview was between 25 and 60 min depending on the response rate of the participants. At the beginning of each interview and before asking questions about the ETPB, the participant was asked to introduce him or herself, followed by a number of general questions about demographic and socioeconomic status. Then, the search for their views, opinions, and perceptions continued. The interview went so far that the interviewer made sure that the topics and concepts were understood correctly. The interviews continued until the data were saturated, meaning that a new concept was not needed to create the new code.

To analyze the data, a directed content analysis or theory-based content analysis approach was used. This approach is one of the qualitative research methods proposed by Hsieh and Shannon in 2005 and aims to validate or develop a theoretical framework.[ 17 ] As regards in this study, data collection was performed using the conceptual framework of the ETPB, so this approach was used to analyze the data.

In this study, analysis was performed simultaneously with data collection. Thus that, at the end of each interview, at the earliest opportunity, the recorded statements were written verbatim (exactly word-for-word) on paper after being listened to several times by the researcher. The transcript texts were also read several times and reviewed to get a correct and in-depth understanding of them. The texts of the interviews were then analyzed by two researchers independently and with an open coding system. In this way, the text became semantic units, and after summarizing, it changed to a code. At this stage, to achieve a common procedure in data coding, the texts coded by two researchers were controlled by two other members of the research team. The discrepancy between the coding rules or the classification of codes was resolved by discussion between the research team. Numerous codes were put together based on similarity and created subcategories. The subcategories also formed categories based on their relationship to each other. In the next step, the placement of the categories in the themes was done based on the constructs of ETPB; in other words, the created themes corresponded to the names of the constructs.

To provide and validate data credibility, there was a constant and continuous interaction with the participants in the research. This study was conducted in 5 months in communication and interaction with the participants to get a proper and desirable understanding of them. Participants’ collaboration was also used to review and validate the codes, so that the extracted codes were returned to the participants to ensure the accuracy of the coding and interpretation. In order to data conformability, the review method was used by experts, so that two experts who had sufficient experience in qualitative research reviewed and examined various aspects of the research. Data transferability was also provided by selecting participants from different socioeconomic backgrounds and diverse ranges in terms of age, gender, duration of matrimony, number of children, education, and occupation.

Ethical consideration

To observe ethics in research, the researchers explained the objectives of the research to the participants. They explained the reason for recording their voices during the interview and emphasized that all the information obtained from the research was confidential and was used only for the purpose of research. They also stressed that participants have the right to leave the study at any time. After receiving written consent from the participants, interviews were conducted. This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences with the code of ethics IR.UMSHA.REC.1397.847.

The study involved 9 women aged 16–33 and 8 men aged 23–45. The mean age of the participants was 29.94 years and the mean number of their children was 1.29. Other characteristics of the participants are presented in Table 1 .

Demographic characteristics of the study participants ( n =17)

SD=Standard deviation

After careful review of the text of the interviews, 96 initial codes were extracted, which were reduced to 28 main codes by careful evaluation. The main codes were also placed in 9 subcategories, and these subcategories were based on the constructs of ETPB placed in the 4 main categories.

Attitude toward childbearing

This theme, which corresponds to the construct of attitude toward behavior in TPB, included a main category, “beliefs about the consequences of childbearing,” divided into two subcategories, “positive consequences” and “negative consequences” of childbearing [ Table 2 ].

The theme of attitude toward childbearing and its category, subcategories, and codes

Most of the participants believed that having a child has benefits such as preventing the aging of the population, developing the country, improving the favorable conditions of the family, improving the lives of couples, reproduction and survival of the generation and mental excellence.

Positive consequences

”I think having children makes the population of the country young and prevents the aging of the population”’ (a 30-year-old man, 2 children).

”If we have children now, we will have labor force in the future… and that will lead to the development of the country” (a 27-year-old man, 1 child).

”Bringing a child sweetens life… makes life beautiful and makes parents happy” (a 29-year-old woman, 1 child).

”With the birth of a child, the relationship between the couple becomes much more intimate. Since we found out that I am pregnant, our relationship has become much warmer than before… the way we talk and treat each other has improved” (26-year-old woman, childless [pregnant]).

”Having children increases love and affection between husband and wife… and their disagreements become less” (a 29-year-old woman, 2 children).

”Having a child certainly raises the life expectancy of a couple… one finds a new motivation to live” (a 26-year-old woman, childless).

”Having children increases the number of families and our generation survives” (a 45-year-old man, 3 children).

”Having children makes you feel good… I think having a few children boosts their self-esteem, self-confidence and co-operation spirit” (a 32-year-old woman, 2 children).

They also believed that having a child had problems, such as restrictions for the couple and in particular, for the mother, socioeconomic costs, educational problems, and health risks.

Negative consequences

”Having children makes a couple ignore each other and pay less attention to each other” (a 26-year-old woman, 1 child).

”Having children deprives a person of her liberties…. She may give up her own desires because she raises a child” (a 26-year-old woman, childless).

”It is difficult to meet the financial needs of the child… the existence of insecurity in the society will make me worry about my child” (a 37-year-old man, childless).

”I think having children makes the mother tired… The mother can’t continue her education or go to work” (a 33-year-old woman, 1 child).

”You have to spend a lot of money to have a child, and it costs a lot… and you have to constantly worry that my child won’t have a problem in society” (a 38-year-old man, 2 children).

”It's very difficult to raise a child… I can’t communicate easily with children” (a 24-year-old woman, 1 child).

”If a mother gives birth at an old age, her health is at risk” (a 33-year-old woman, 1 child).

Subjective norms with respect to childbearing

This theme also included a main category entitled “normative beliefs in childbearing.” This category is divided into two subcategories, “family normative beliefs” and “nonkinship normative beliefs” [ Table 3 ].

The theme of subjective norms with respect to childbearing and its category, subcategories, and codes

Many participants believed that the couple's and immediate relatives’ views on having children are important.

Family normative beliefs

”My spouse's opinion is the most important to me, and in the end, only the couple decides to have a child” (a 29-year-old woman, 1 child).

”In order to have children, the opinion of my spouse's parents is important to me” (a 16-year-old woman, childless).

On the other hand, some participants believed that the opinions of experts as well as the social pressure of the environment in which they live are important for them in terms of childbearing.

Nonkinship normative beliefs

”In my opinion, the views of doctors and psychologists on childbearing are very important” (a 27-year-old man, 1 child).

”The number of children in the area where you live can affect your opinion and decision to have children” (a 26-year-old woman, 1 child).

Perceived control over having a child

”Control Beliefs in Childbearing” was the only main category of this theme. This category also included two subcategories, including “facilitating factors” and “interfering factors” [ Table 4 ].

The theme of perceived control over having a child and its category, subcategories, and codes

Most participants believed that factors such as economic facilities, public welfare, and health services facilitated childbearing.

Facilitating factors

”Having a job and having a good income or having a home makes it easier to think about having children” (a 34-year-old man, 2 children).

”If the government gives people the necessary facilities such as food, clothing, amenities and financial and nonfinancial assistance, the people will have children” (a 27-year-old man, 1 child).

”Freeing up pregnancy test costs and pre- and post-pregnancy counselling makes it easier for people to have children” (a 26-year-old woman, 1 child).

Many participants believed that economic barriers, social barriers, psychological barriers, and women's concerns are obstacles to childbearing.

Interfering factors

”The country's poor economic condition… The high cost of caring for a child has made me not think about having children” (a 23-year-old man, childless).

”Problems such as unemployment, addiction, insecurity and hopelessness about the future of the country prevent me from having another child” (a 29-year-old woman, 1 child).

”When I see children with mental health problems or not being well-educated, I regret having children” (a 34-year-old man, childless).

”Because I work now and I like to have a good position in society, I prefer not to have children” (a 22-year-old woman, childless).

Social support in childbearing

This theme had a main category called “social support.” The category was divided into three subcategories: “informational support,” “instrumental support,” and “emotional support” [ Table 5 ].

The theme of social support in childbearing and its category, subcategories, and codes

Most of the participants stated that they get the information about childbearing from those around them, specialized resources, and the internet.

Informational support

”A lot of the information we need about childbearing is given to me by my parents and my husband's parents, our family and those around us” (a 26-year-old woman, 1 child).

”I get a lot of information from the staff of health centers… the experts on the TV programs give us good information about having children” (a 24-year-old woman, 1 child).

”My wife and I get information about fertility and childbearing from the internet and cyberspace” (a 34-year-old man, 2 children).

Some participants stated that they receive financial and nonfinancial support for having children.

Instrumental support

”When we had children, my family and my husband's family supported us financially and helped us” (a 29-year-old woman, 1 child).

”Both my parents and my husband's parents help us a lot to take care of the baby… I work and we hire a nanny to take care of our child” (a 24-year-old woman, 1 child).

Many participants in the study said they had emotional support from those around them in childbearing.

Emotional support

”When we had children, our parents always asked about our status, which gives us encouragement… my spouse gives me peace of mind” (a 33-year-old woman, 1 child).

The findings of this study showed that many participants considered many benefits for having children; Including prevention of population aging, development of the country, improvement of favorable family conditions, improvement of couple life, reproduction and survival of generation and mental excellence. These findings are consistent with the results of a study conducted in the United Kingdom that sought to identify existing beliefs about having a child.[ 18 ] Regarding the negative consequences of childbearing, the men and women who participated in the study mentioned issues such as restrictions for the couple and in particular, for the mother, socioeconomic costs, educational problems, and health risks. This part of the findings is consistent with the results of other qualitative studies conducted in Iran in the field of fertility and childbearing.[ 19 , 20 ] To explain these findings, it should be noted that in TPB, behavioral beliefs form the basis of attitude formation.[ 10 ] In the case of childbearing, it can be said that any behavioral belief about having a child has a particular consequence; on the other hand, in the minds of individuals, this consequence has a subjective value. These beliefs and the values that are intended for them are combined and together, in general, produce a positive or negative attitude toward childbearing. The impact of attitudes on childbearing intention and behavior has been repeatedly demonstrated in both studies conducted in Iran[ 1 , 8 , 14 ] and in other countries.[ 9 , 11 , 16 , 21 ] Of course, it should be noted that beliefs and attitudes can be different in various societies and change over time. Given the colorful role of religious beliefs in Iranian Society, its role in the formation of a positive attitude toward childbearing should be considered. According to religious teachings, childbearing is considered valuable and people are encouraged to have more children. The findings of a qualitative study in Iran showed that despite the influence of various factors on the fertility of people, religious people have a high tendency to have children and are less affected by other intervening factors.[ 22 ]

Another noteworthy point that can be seen in the findings of the present study is the difference between the views and opinions of individuals with children and childless individuals. Thus, childless people often emphasized family benefits when asked about the benefits of childbearing. They saw these benefits mainly in terms of themselves, their spouses, their relationships, and their family life, such as improving relationships between couples and motivating life. This mindset of childless people is based more on their predictions of childbearing than on the experience of childbearing and the realities of life with the child. These beliefs seem to have originated from the common discourse among the people of the society, trainings and programs that are being implemented in the Iranian Society to encourage childbearing. The disadvantages reported by childless women often focused on issues that interfered with their individual freedoms and interests, including continuing education, employment, and social participation. Mentioning such cases is not unexpected due to the social changes in Iranian Society. Increasing the level of education of women has made it possible for them to participate in economic and social activities outside the home. Hence, it has increased the cost of women having children. Therefore, women's desire to have children decreases. On the other hand, the advantages and disadvantages of having children for people with children are derived from their experiences, because these people are faced with the realities of life, along with the existence of the child. In this study, most of these people emphasized the economic and financial costs of having children. Over the years, up to the time of this study, Iran has had an unfavorable economic situation and inflation and economic problems have plagued Iranian families. Therefore, overcoming the economic problems caused by having children seems to be the main concern of these families. In general, it can be said that from the couple's viewpoint, the costs of having children far outweigh the benefits.

Based on the findings of the present study, most of the participants in the study believed that the normative beliefs within their family and also outside this framework, i.e., the opinion of experts and the social pressure in their place of residence; it affects their intention and behavior of childbearing. These findings are consistent with the results of other studies.[ 23 , 24 , 25 ] In TPB, subjective norms with respect to having a child are determined by normative beliefs in related to important others and referents. These normative beliefs are also weighed by the motivation to comply with the referents.[ 10 ] In today's Iranian Society, in urban life, according to the needs of social change, the form of life has changed and society has moved toward a nuclear family and has distanced itself from the extended family. In the nuclear family, it is the couple who decide on the number and time of birth of the child/children, so the spouse's opinion on childbearing is most important. However, in these families, the opinion of close people; like the couple's parents, it plays an important role in the couple's decision to have children. On the other, Iranian couples who are currently in childbearing age often have a high level of education, and this has led to the involvement of experts with sufficient knowledge in the field of fertility in their decisions to have children. As a reliable source and reference, couples are motivated enough to comply them.

The study found that participants said factors such as economic facilities, public welfare, and health services led to facilitation of childbearing. On the other hand, the study participants believed that economic barriers, social barriers, psychological barriers, and women's concerns were obstacles to childbearing. In a qualitative study aimed to understand the causes of one-child tendency in Iran; economic factors, high cost of living and lack of support for employed women were the main factors affecting one-child tendency.[ 26 ] Similar results have been obtained in other studies conducted in Iran[ 3 , 20 , 27 ] and other countries.[ 9 , 28 ] According to TPB, control beliefs are related to resources and barriers that can facilitate or obstacle having a child.[ 10 ] Economic factors are among the main factors influencing the fertility process. As a rule, having a child requires expenses related to nutrition, clothing, education, health services, care, and so on. Thus, the intention and desire of the lower strata of society to have children is affected and may obstacle childbearing. However, in the upper classes of society, other factors may hinder childbearing. Particularly social and psychological factors including all kinds of social harms such as unemployment, addiction, divorce, delinquency, social insecurity, lack of social vitality and despair about the future of children. Women's concerns are another important and influential factor in childbearing that should be given more attention. Today, there have been extensive upheavals in the field of women's human capital, their level of education, women's participation in the labor market, and socioeconomic activities outside the home. Therefore, women have evaluated the costs and benefits of childbearing and concluded that the costs of childbearing are much higher; in a way, it prevents him from achieving many of his goals and desires. In general, these will lead to the generalization of the intention to have no children or one child.

The findings of the present study indicate that most of the participants stated that they receive all kinds of informational, instrumental and emotional support in childbearing through experts, the Internet and others. In previous studies aimed at identifying factors related to childbearing intent and behavior, similar results have been obtained.[ 13 , 15 , 23 ] Social support refers to the tangible and psychological resources that are provided to individuals through communication with family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and others. Social support includes informational, instrumental, and emotional support. In many studies, the issue of social support has been addressed; in these studies, the positive effects of social support and the negative consequences of not having access to it have been well demonstrated.[ 13 , 29 ] This shows the important role of social factors in childbearing. It seems that the couple's enjoyment of all kinds of social support affects their intention to have children in two ways. The first is directly and through impact on intention; in this way, it creates confidence in people that there will be facilities and support items around them when having children. Therefore, this issue may be effective in shaping the couple's intention to have children. The second is indirect and by affecting the three immediate determinants of intention (including attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control). This effect should be considered in quantitative studies and in the form of surveys.

Limitations and recommendations

One of the limitations of this study was that only married people entered the study, so examining the opinions and beliefs of single people and their intention to have children in the future could help develop appropriate demographic programs and policies.

The findings of this qualitative study showed that in order to recognize and understand the beliefs and factors related to the intention and behavior of childbearing, the ETPB can be used. Attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and social support in the field of childbearing are among the factors influencing the intention and behavior of childbearing. The results of this study could be the basis for designing appropriate data collection instrument in quantitative studies and vast surveys.

Financial support and sponsorship

This research was financially supported by the Deputy of Research and Technology of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgment

This study is part of a PhD thesis that has been approved by Hamadan University of Medical Sciences with the code 9712217999. The authors would like to thank all the participants in the study.

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Anatomy & Physiology — Childbirth

Essays on Childbirth

Reviewing different childbirth techniques from several countries, research on the modern state of the childbirth, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

The Effects of Acupressure on Labor Pains During Childbirth

Medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth: the general goals and performance, defying nature: choosing the sex of an unborn baby is wrong , the factors of postpartum depression, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Child Birth

Evaluation on the decision on the life choice of having children or not, the role and significance of contraception in modern societies, differences and similarities in birth rituals and beliefs of the samoans and pygmies, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

Analysis of Margaret Sanger’s Speech on Birth Control

The intervention birth plan review, preimplantation and stages of fetus development, life beginning & fertalization, women’s age at first child’s birth, the importance and major developments in neonatology, the positive outcomes of childbirth at an older age, mary breckinridge and the history of nurse-midwifery, the efficacy of telephone-based lactation counseling: literature review, the effectiveness of birth control, the benefits of over the counter birth control, the population puzzle: understanding total fertility rate, the legal landscape of surrogacy: complexities and considerations, home births and societal perceptions, women's empowerment and choice in birth practices, reclaiming birth: the comprehensive exploration of home births, relevant topics.

• Human Physiology
• Cardiovascular System
• Human Anatomy
• Homeostasis
• Human Brain

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Essay Database >
• Essays Examples >
• Essay Topics

Essays on Childbearing

8 samples on this topic

To many college goers, composing Childbearing papers comes easy; others require the help of various types. The WowEssays.com catalog includes expertly crafted sample essays on Childbearing and relevant issues. Most definitely, among all those Childbearing essay examples, you will find a paper that resonates with what you perceive as a decent paper. You can be sure that virtually every Childbearing piece showcased here can be used as a bright example to follow in terms of general structure and writing different parts of a paper – introduction, main body, or conclusion.

If, however, you have a hard time coming up with a decent Childbearing essay or don't have even a minute of extra time to browse our sample catalog, our free essay writer company can still be of great aid to you. The matter is, our experts can tailor a sample Childbearing paper to your personal needs and particular requirements within the pre-set timespan. Buy college essays today!

Women Essays Example

VOICES OF THE UNDERREPRESENTED IN ANCIENT ATHENS:

Perfect Model Essay On China As The ‘middle Kingdom’: Population Issues And Industrialisation

Muslim women’s paths to empowerment: essay you might want to emulate, example of sisters in islam and islam feminism essay, folate in the diets of women of childbearing age research paper samples.

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

Peter Smith, Associated Press Peter Smith, Associated Press

Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press

Leave your feedback

• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-is-postliberalism-how-a-catholic-intellectual-movement-influenced-jd-vances-political-views

What is postliberalism? How a Catholic intellectual movement influenced JD Vance’s political views

By his own account, Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s 2019 conversion to Catholicism provided a spiritual fulfillment he couldn’t find in his Yale education or career success.

It also amounted to a political conversion.

WATCH: JD Vance’s political views and how they have shifted in recent years

Catholicism provided him a new way of looking at the addictions, family breakdowns and other social ills he described in his 2016 bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

“I felt desperate for a worldview that understood our bad behavior as simultaneously social and individual, structural and moral; that recognized that we are products of our environment; that we have a responsibility to change that environment, but that we are still moral beings with individual duties,” he wrote in  a 2020 essay .

His conversion also put Vance in close touch with a Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that has been little known to the American public until Vance’s rise to the national stage as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

These are not your father’s Catholic conservatives.

The professors and media personalities in this network don’t all agree on everything — even on what to call themselves – but most go by “postliberal.” Vance has  used that term to describe himself , though the Trump-Vance campaign did not respond to questions about where Vance sees himself in the movement and whether he shares some of the beliefs promoted by many postliberals.

Postliberals do share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

But where Catholic conservatives of the past have seen big government as a problem rather than a solution, the postliberals want a muscular government — one that they control.

They envision a counterrevolution in which they would take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting upon their vision of the “common good.”

“What is needed … is regime change — the peaceful but vigorous overthrow of a corrupt and corrupting liberal ruling class and the creation of a postliberal order,” wrote Patrick Deneen, a prominent author in the movement, in his 2023 book, “Regime Change.”

Vance has signaled his alignment with some of what Catholic postliberals advocate. He’s said the next time his allies control the  presidency or Congress, “ we really need to be really ruthless  when it comes to the exercise of power” and said Republicans should  seize institutions, including universities  “to make them work for our people.” He’s advocated for government  policies to spur childbearing , a notion reflected in his digs at “childless cat ladies” with allegedly no stake in America’s future.

Scholars who study this movement caution that Vance does his own thinking and doesn’t necessarily embrace everything proposed by postliberals — or by a subset of them known as integralists, who want a state working in tandem with the Catholic Church. The latter is not a label Vance has used for himself.

WATCH: Intersection of faith and politics a central message at Republican convention

But Vance has spoken alongside prominent postliberals at public events and praised some of their work.

At an  Ohio conference  featuring a who’s who of Catholic postliberals in 2022, he told fellow speakers he has “admired a lot of you from afar” as “some of the people who I think are most interesting about what’s going on in this country.”

Vance praised Deneen’s book at a  2023 panel discussion  with the author, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.

Vance has also met privately with leading postliberals, who have  posted photos  of their gatherings  on social media  and cheered his vice presidential nomination.

Catholic journals for years have bristled with debates about postliberalism, but with little public attention — in part because its adherents are few and its views are far from mainstream.

But now, postliberals have an avid listener in Donald Trump’s running mate.

“You can go from people writing on an unusual Catholic theology blog to the vice presidential candidate in the course of less than a decade,” said James Patterson, professor of politics at Ave Maria University in Florida.

Vance’s preoccupations show an influence from the movement, he said, citing his remarks about the childless.

“Most ordinary American Catholics would not treat a childless single woman with cats with this kind of contempt,” Patterson said. Even if Vance is not steeped in the philosophy, Patterson added, “he is picking up on the postliberal vibe.”

Some Catholics, including conservatives, have raised alarms about the company Vance has kept, saying postliberalism has historical connections to 20th century European movements that are associated with authoritarian regimes like Francisco Franco’s in Spain.

“We’re talking about people that prefer right-wing authoritarian regimes,” Patterson said.

In a postliberal society, Patterson wrote  in an August commentary in the online journal The Dispatch , citizens become “subjects” and personal liberties subjected to “administrative despotism.”

Vance has recently tried to downplay his Catholicism’s impact on policy-making.

Trump’s Supreme Court appointees provided the crucial majority to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide. But the issue has become a political liability, with voters in several states rejecting abortion restrictions.

Vance had strongly opposed abortion, in the runup to his 2022 senatorial win, saying at one point that “two wrongs don’t make a right” when referring to exceptions for rape and incest. The campaign said in an email Wednesday that he supports “reasonable” exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.

But Vance has aligned with the Republicans’  first post-Roe platform  in 2024, in which it backed off from its longstanding support for nationwide abortion restrictions. He pledged he could “absolutely commit” that a Trump-Vance administration would not impose such an abortion ban.

Trump has spoken inconsistently about a ballot measure repealing Florida’s ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

After facing backlash from anti-abortion activists for seeming to indicate he would support the measure, Trump said he would oppose it.

The Catholic Church’s U.S. bishops declared opposing abortion “our pre-eminent priority.”

Vance  told the New York Post  in August that Catholic social teaching “certainly influences how I think about issues.” But he acknowledged “there are a lot of things the Catholic Church teaches that frankly, Americans would just never go for.”

He added that in a democracy, “you have to give people their ability to have their own moral views reflected in public policy. There are a lot of non-Catholics in America and I accept that.”

Julian Waller, a political science professor at George Washington University, said Vance has numerous influences outside of Catholic postliberalism — from Trump-style populists to his mentor, tech billionaire Peter Thiel.

It remains to be seen whether Catholic postliberals would get prominent appointments in a Trump-Vance administration — or even how often they’d get their calls returned.

“Someone like JD Vance can read them, be interested in them, attend talks, know them personally, get insights from them,” Waller said. “But he’s not on the hook to obey them.”

For an example of what an administration using state power for postliberal ends might look like, Waller pointed to Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to rid public higher education of diversity initiatives and critical race theory.

“If you want the model for what someone like JD Vance is really interested in, it’s probably the Florida model, forcefully changing institutions, capturing institutions,” Waller said.

Postliberals’ ideas vary, but there are common themes, said Kevin Vallier, author of “ All the Kingdoms of the World ,” a 2023 book on the modern postliberal and integralist movements and their centuries-old roots.

Depending on who’s talking, a postliberal regime change could involve encouraging childbearing, easing or removing church-state separation, banning pornography for adults and children alike, reimposing laws limiting business on the Sabbath, supporting private-sector unions and strengthening safety nets for the middle class.

It’s common to hear postliberals praising Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, particularly for his use of financial incentives for families that have more babies. Orban has championed an “illiberal democracy,” which includes restrictions on immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.

WATCH: Hungary’s Orbán gives Trump an ‘illiberal’ roadmap for American conservatives

Vance has praised Orban for  Hungary’s subsidies to married couples  with children and for “smart decisions” in seizing control of universities.

Vance has echoed the regime-change rhetoric of using government, staffed by likeminded officials, for postliberal goals.

“You need to have a functional state that accomplishes some of the things that we care about. You need good people to go and work in that functional state,” Vance said a 2022 conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. It featured prominent postliberals like Deneen and Harvard Law School professor Adrian Vermeule.

Vermeule has advocated for “common-good constitutionalism,” in which the government enacts “strong rule in the interest of attaining the common good.”

Deneen and Vermeule declined requests for interviews.

Vance’s choice to speak at Steubenville underscored his affinity with postliberals, Vallier said.

“He could have given that talk anywhere,” said Vallier, a professor at the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at the University of Toledo in Ohio. “Why is he appearing with these intellectuals if he’s not sympathetic to their ideas?”

Vance’s religious journey began in a family that rarely went to church when he was young, he wrote in “Hillbilly Elegy.” But he said his grandmother — the most stable adult in his turbulent household — regularly read the Bible and taught a Christianity that demanded hard work, forgiveness and hope.

For a time, the young JD embraced the strict biblical literalism of his father’s Pentecostal church, crediting it as a stabilizing force, he wrote.

But in college, Vance embraced what he later viewed as an arrogant and fashionable atheism.

Eventually, he wrote in a 2020 essay for the Catholic journal The Lamp, he concluded he “needed grace” to provide him the virtues to be a good husband and father.

“I needed, in other words, to become Catholic,” he wrote.

Support Provided By: Learn more

Educate your inbox

Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.

Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.

Your browser is set to private mode. To continue reading, please log in or subscribe.

Get unlimited access today for only

$9.99 / month

Subscribe now

JD Vance’s Catholicism helped shape his views. So did this little-known group of Catholic thinkers

By his own account, Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s 2019 conversion to Catholicism provided a spiritual fulfillment he couldn’t find in his Yale education or career success.

It also amounted to a political conversion.

Catholicism provided him a new way of looking at the addictions, family breakdowns and other social ills he described in his 2016 bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

“I felt desperate for a worldview that understood our bad behavior as simultaneously social and individual, structural and moral; that recognized that we are products of our environment; that we have a responsibility to change that environment, but that we are still moral beings with individual duties,” he wrote in  a 2020 essay .

His conversion also put Vance in close touch with a Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that has been little known to the American public until Vance’s rise to the national stage as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

These are not your father’s Catholic conservatives.

The professors and media personalities in this network don’t all agree on everything — even on what to call themselves – but most go by “postliberal.” Vance has  used that term to describe himself , though the Trump-Vance campaign did not respond to questions about where Vance sees himself in the movement and whether he shares some of the beliefs promoted by many postliberals.

Postliberals do share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

But where Catholic conservatives of the past have seen big government as a problem rather than a solution, the postliberals want a muscular government — one that they control.

They envision a counterrevolution in which they would take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting upon their vision of the “common good.”

“What is needed … is regime change — the peaceful but vigorous overthrow of a corrupt and corrupting liberal ruling class and the creation of a postliberal order,” wrote Patrick Deneen, a prominent author in the movement, in his 2023 book, “Regime Change.”

Vance has signaled his alignment with some of what Catholic postliberals advocate. He’s said the next time his allies control the  presidency  or Congress, “  we really need to be really ruthless  when it comes to the exercise of power” and said Republicans should  seize institutions, including universities  “to make them work for our people.” He’s advocated for government  policies to spur childbearing , a notion reflected in  his digs  at “childless cat ladies” with allegedly no stake in America’s future.

Scholars who study this movement caution that Vance does his own thinking and doesn’t necessarily embrace everything proposed by postliberals — or by a subset of them known as integralists, who want a state working in tandem with the Catholic Church. The latter is not a label Vance has used for himself.

But Vance has spoken alongside prominent postliberals at public events and praised some of their work.

At an  Ohio conference  featuring a who’s who of Catholic postliberals in 2022, he told fellow speakers he has “admired a lot of you from afar” as “some of the people who I think are most interesting about what’s going on in this country.”

Vance praised Deneen’s book at a  2023 panel discussion  with the author, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.

Vance has also met privately with leading postliberals, who have  posted photos  of their gatherings  on social media  and cheered his vice presidential nomination.

Catholic journals for years have bristled with debates about postliberalism, but with little public attention — in part because its adherents are few and its views are far from mainstream.

But now, postliberals have an avid listener in Donald Trump’s running mate.

“You can go from people writing on an unusual Catholic theology blog to the vice presidential candidate in the course of less than a decade,” said James Patterson, professor of politics at Ave Maria University in Florida.

Vance’s preoccupations show an influence from the movement, he said, citing his remarks about the childless.

“Most ordinary American Catholics would not treat a childless single woman with cats with this kind of contempt,” Patterson said. Even if Vance is not steeped in the philosophy, Patterson added, “he is picking up on the postliberal vibe.”

Some Catholics, including conservatives, have raised alarms about the company Vance has kept, saying postliberalism has historical connections to 20th century European movements that are associated with authoritarian regimes like Francisco Franco’s in Spain.

“We’re talking about people that prefer right-wing authoritarian regimes,” Patterson said.

In a postliberal society, Patterson wrote  in an August commentary in the online journal The Dispatch , citizens become “subjects” and personal liberties subjected to “administrative despotism.”

Vance has recently tried to downplay his Catholicism’s impact on policy-making.

Trump’s Supreme Court appointees provided the crucial majority to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide. But the issue has become a political liability, with voters in several states rejecting abortion restrictions.

Vance had strongly opposed abortion, in the runup to his 2022 senatorial win, saying at one point that “two wrongs don’t make a right” when referring to exceptions for rape and incest. The campaign said in an email Wednesday that he supports “reasonable” exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.

But Vance has aligned with the Republicans’  first post-Roe platform  in 2024, in which it backed off from its longstanding support for nationwide abortion restrictions. He pledged he could “absolutely commit” that a Trump-Vance administration would not impose such an abortion ban.

Trump has spoken inconsistently about a ballot measure repealing Florida’s ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

After facing backlash from anti-abortion activists for seeming to indicate he would support the measure, Trump  said he would oppose it .

The Catholic Church’s U.S. bishops declared opposing abortion “our pre-eminent priority.”

Vance  told the New York Post  in August that Catholic social teaching “certainly influences how I think about issues.” But he acknowledged “there are a lot of things the Catholic Church teaches that frankly, Americans would just never go for.”

He added that in a democracy, “you have to give people their ability to have their own moral views reflected in public policy. There are a lot of non-Catholics in America and I accept that.”

Julian Waller, a political science professor at George Washington University, said Vance has numerous influences outside of Catholic postliberalism — from Trump-style populists to his mentor, tech billionaire Peter Thiel.

It remains to be seen whether Catholic postliberals would get prominent appointments in a Trump-Vance administration — or even how often they’d get their calls returned.

“Someone like JD Vance can read them, be interested in them, attend talks, know them personally, get insights from them,” Waller said. “But he’s not on the hook to obey them.”

For an example of what an administration using state power for postliberal ends might look like, Waller pointed to Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to rid public higher education of diversity initiatives and critical race theory.

“If you want the model for what someone like JD Vance is really interested in, it’s probably the Florida model, forcefully changing institutions, capturing institutions,” Waller said.

Postliberals’ ideas vary, but there are common themes, said Kevin Vallier, author of “  All the Kingdoms of the World ,” a 2023 book on the modern postliberal and integralist movements and their centuries-old roots.

Depending on who’s talking, a postliberal regime change could involve encouraging childbearing, easing or removing church-state separation, banning pornography for adults and children alike, reimposing laws limiting business on the Sabbath, supporting private-sector unions and strengthening safety nets for the middle class.

It’s common to hear postliberals praising Hungary’s nationalist prime minister,  Viktor Orban , particularly for his use of financial incentives for families that have more babies. Orban has championed an  “illiberal democracy,”  which includes restrictions on  immigration  and  LGBTQ+ rights .

Vance has praised Orban for  Hungary’s subsidies to married couples  with children and for “smart decisions” in seizing control of universities.

Vance has echoed the regime-change rhetoric of using government, staffed by likeminded officials, for postliberal goals.

“You need to have a functional state that accomplishes some of the things that we care about. You need good people to go and work in that functional state,” Vance said a 2022 conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. It featured prominent postliberals like Deneen and Harvard Law School professor Adrian Vermeule.

Vermeule has advocated for “common-good constitutionalism,” in which the government enacts “strong rule in the interest of attaining the common good.”

Deneen and Vermeule declined requests for interviews.

Vance’s choice to speak at Steubenville underscored his affinity with postliberals, Vallier said.

“He could have given that talk anywhere,” said Vallier, a professor at the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at the University of Toledo in Ohio. “Why is he appearing with these intellectuals if he’s not sympathetic to their ideas?”

Vance’s religious journey began in a family that rarely went to church when he was young, he wrote in “Hillbilly Elegy.” But he said his grandmother — the most stable adult in his turbulent household — regularly read the Bible and taught a Christianity that demanded hard work, forgiveness and hope.

For a time, the young JD embraced the strict biblical literalism of his father’s Pentecostal church, crediting it as a stabilizing force, he wrote.

But in college, Vance embraced what he later viewed as an arrogant and fashionable atheism.

Eventually, he wrote in a 2020 essay for the Catholic journal The Lamp, he concluded he “needed grace” to provide him the virtues to be a good husband and father.

“I needed, in other words, to become Catholic,” he wrote.

Related Stories