FUNCIÓN DE LA REFLEXIÓN EN LA TEORÍA DEL APRENDIZAJE SIGNIFI CATIVO

Postpartum abstinence is another proximate determinant that may reduce fertility. However, it would have a significant impact on fertility only if its duration exceeded the period of postpartum amenorrhoea. In sub-Saharan Africa, postpartum abstinence has generally exceeded the period of lactation (Caldwell and Caldwell, 1977: 207). Nag, in a study of 41 non-industrial countries, found a significant negative association between postpartum abstinence and fertility levels (Nag, 1962 cited in Nag, 1984: 137). Postpartum abstinence is usually not practiced to deliberately regulate fertility but to safeguard both the child's and mother's health (Caldwell and Caldwell, 1977: 198; Nag, 1980: 576). A number of empirical studies point to a decline in the duration of postpartum abstinence in most societies (Nag, 1980; Hull and Hull, 1977; Caldwell and Caldwell, 1977). For example, a study on Javanese women found a tendency for shorter postpartum abstinence among younger men (Hull and Hull, 1977). Research has also shown that education followed by urbanisation had the largest negative effect on postpartum abstinence (Caldwell and Caldwell, 1977: 207). The tendency for cultural values and norms to be quickly eroded in urban areas and among the educated may thus explain this decline in the duration of postpartum abstinence.

This study, examined the mean duration of postpartum abstinence in the last five years (Table 6.11). Postpartum abstinence was measured from birth to the point of first sexual union after that birth. However, in Table 6.12 where the unit of analysis was the mother, only the last birth was taken into account. This measurement excluded older women who had stopped childbearing in the last five years and who might find it

difficult to recall accurately past events. As an educated, 39 year old working woman with five children in their teens explained:

02172: I can't remember all those things, length of breastfeeding and abstinence after childbirth. You see they happened so long ago.

Table 6.11: Duration of postpartum abstinence of ever-married women 15-49 years, by ethnicity Koro - Basti, 1989-1990 (percentage and means).

Duration in months Fijians Indians

< 3 months 32 84 3-< 6 months 26 16 6+ months 42 0 Total 100 100 Number of cases 65 67 Mean duration 3.8 2.0

Source: 1989-1990 Koro - Basti survey.

Postpartum abstinence was probably the single most important factor in the restraint of Fijian fertility before the introduction of modem contraception (Hull and Hull, 1973; 169). Its strength was associated with a belief that early resumption of coitus after childbirth was detrimental to the health of both infant and mother.

In Fiji, European contact was believed to have contributed to the decline in postpartum abstinence. In pre-contact days, when a child was bom the father was separated from the wife for up to two years to permit the mother to recuperate and nurse the child till it was weaned. If a husband approached the wife in the meantime and she became pregnant too soon after having a child, the husband would become the object of derision amongst his fellow villagers. People would fear that the first child would become a

save or a weakling as a result (Hull and Hull, 1973: 169).

Some scholars, including analysts of the Fiji Fertility Survey, assumed this phenomenon was still occurring in Melanesia even though the islands of Melanesia were in different stages of development (Fiji Bureau of Statistics, 1976: 52). The Fiji Fertility Survey was rather cautious in its interpretation of the data on postpartum abstinence, particularly for the Fijian community (Fiji Bureau of Statistics, 1976). The duration of breastfeeding coincided with the duration of postpartum abstinence, and the report

indicated that responses to questions on these topics could have been influenced by

cultural norms, particularly when periods o f postpartum amenorrhoea were short.

A ll Fijian women interviewed in the village articulated the importance of a sufficient

period o f postpartum abstinence, generally regarded as at least one year. However,

Table 6.11 shows that the mean duration o f postpartum abstinence was about four

months, about eight months less than the perceived ideal.

Table 6.12: Mean duration of postpartum abstinence of ever-married women 15-49 years by age, parity, education, employment status and ethnicity, Koro • Basti 1989-1990.

Socio-economic and

demographic variables Fijian Indian

Age of mother 15-34 years 5.6* 1.9* 35-49 years * t-value = 5.2 df 62 p < 0.01). # t-value = 7.5# 2.95 df 25 p < 0.01. 2.3# Parity 1 child 6.5** 2.1** 2 children 4.9## 1.3##

3+ children 6.5A 2.1A

** t-value = 2.6 df 9 p < 0.05; ## t-value =: 3.5 df 15 p < 0.01; A t-value = 4.6 df 61 p < 0.01 Educational attainment None/Primary 6.1* 2.1*# Secondary or higher *# t-value = 4.1 df 37 p < 0.01. #A t-value 6.2# = 3.7 df 50 p < 0.01. 1.7#A Employment status Wage employment 4.4 2.1 Homemaker @ t-value = 5.7 df 70 p < 0.01. 6.7(a) 1.9@ Number of cases 49 44

Source: 1989-1990 Koro - Basti survey

Note: Significance results occur under the significance level of < 0.05.

Table 6.12 displays postpartum duration according to women's age, parity, educational

attainment and employment status. The duration o f postpartum abstinence increased

slightly with age among Fijians, suggesting a decline in duration over time. By

contrast, durations among Indians were comparatively uniform across all ages.

Duration did not vary markedly by parity in either community, although it appeared to

be somewhat lower for Fijian women in the second parity and marginally lower for

Fijian women not engaged in employment in the formal sector reported longer durations than working women. These women were largely older and probably more likely to observe the taboo period after childbirth, as well as the exemption on activities that required travel distance away from the home. Among Indian women, duration did not vary by employment status.

a Socio-cultural influences on postpartum abstinence

As noted in Fijian society, postpartum abstinence was observed because of the belief that quick resumption of coitus after childbirth was detrimental to both infant and the mother's health. It was believed that a woman resuming coitus too soon (a month or less) after childbirth suffered from a condition called quruvou in which her hair thinned and the texture changed. The woman, it was thought, would become weak and pale and would suffer from dizziness. Herbal medicines could be taken to remedy the symptoms. The village herbalist told me that most mothers had suffered quruvou sometime during their childbearing span. The infants of such mothers were thought to suffer from a condition called save, where they lost weight and became weak because of loss of appetite and frequent bowel motions.

Since the ideal period of abstinence of one year coincided with the socially acceptable age o f weaning for the infant, these may have been mechanisms to ensure child survival. Abstinence, together with breastfeeding, may be seen as mechanisms tending to prolong birth intervals. Nonetheless, Table 6.11 shows a very short duration of abstinence and discussions with multiparous older women who were in their late thirties and early forties at the time of the Fiji Fertility Survey in 1974 indicated a much shorter period of postpartum abstinence even at that time. Although these women could not remember the exact periods, they indicated that the usual was certainly less than the 10 months reported in the Fiji Fertility Survey. In fact, these women scoffed at the notion of postpartum periods of 10 months. As one lady remarked:

Long periods of postpartum abstinence have usually occurred in societies that had special arrangements such as concubinage and polygyny to relieve such stresses. In Fiji, long periods of postpartum abstinence were reported to have been observed before the turn of the century, when fathers were required to live separately from their wives for approximately two years after birth. However, this practice has fallen into disuse. Polygyny was a chiefly privilege in pre-colonial days, but disappeared after the Christian missionaries' campaign against everything 'heathen' (Roth, 1953: 75,80). Thus, at least one traditional social prop that supported long periods of postpartum abstinence in the Fijian society was no longer functional. The majority of residents knew of herbal preparations that could be taken to avoid the deleterious health effects o f too rapid a resumption of coitus. The fact that most women (81 per cent) reported they took these preparations regularly after childbirth suggests that the norm was not strictly adhered to.

One factor that might contribute to shorter durations of postpartum abstinence was house structure. Traditionally, houses had consisted of one all-purpose room, but now more homes have individual rooms that allow a greater degree of intimacy. The effect of living arrangements on the duration of postpartum abstinence was suggested by a 34 year old Fijian woman who reported:

04202149: Oh the long interval between .... (name of first child) and ...(name of second child) was because we were at the time living with his parents and his brothers. There was no privacy.