Ghanaian Women's Outlook on Marriage and Values of Motherhood Within the Context of Perinatal Loss

Purpose: Mothers are perceived as the parent of a child who have some kind of relationship either biological or non-biological (adopted). In many parts of Africa, women are often considered as mothers only when they conceive and bear children. Childbearing/motherhood is fundamental to every marriage in the continent and families including parents’ in-laws look forward to having grandchildren¹. Children add to the social status and emotional fulfilment in the life of women and their families. In Ghana, childlessness is frowned upon and causes discrimination and stigmatization from society. Therefore, infertility and perinatal loss produce multiple stressors to women and their immediate family^3. Evidence shows that many women have experienced perinatal loss in Ghana².Yet, research exploring perinatal loss in Africa rarely focus on the impact of perinatal loss on women or their opinion on motherhood and how it contributes to societal stigmatization. This research aims to explore the impact of social norms of motherhood and childbearing in relation to perinatal loss from the perspective of Ghanaian women.

Methods: A focus ethnographic design was used. Data was collected from a tertiary institution in Ghana. Twenty women who have experienced perinatal loss were recruited and interviewed. Interview data were transcribed, and inductive thematic analysis was conducted.

Results: Some of the major themes from the data are: “decision making on reproduction, during pregnancy and after loss”, “immediate response to perinatal loss” and “surviving perinatal loss”. Findings suggested that Ghanaian women find motherhood and child bearing an important part of marriage and sustainability of their relationship and livelihood. Thus, experiencing perinatal loss is feared and a difficult life experience for women in Ghana. Women in the study agreed on having rights to take decisions with their spouses but shared that, those rights are silenced by the cultural norms of the family, attitudes and reactions from friends and the community. This makes reproduction an obligation for women of reproductive age and gives them less freedom to decide on child bearing. Their grief responses included the loss of the opportunity of becoming mothers.

Conclusion: The new knowledge gained from this study will be useful in establishing different support systems for the women, their families, the health care providers and society.