Infertility in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Woman’s Issue for How Long? A Qualitative Review of Literature

Nathan B. W. Chimbatata,Chikondi Malimba

doi:10.4236/jss.2016.48012

Nathan B. W. Chimbatata, Chikondi Malimba

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2016.48012

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Abstract

Infertility or childlessness is a major reproductive health issue for females as well as males respectively. Many couples suffer from infertility worldwide and in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has a cultural preference for high fertility; women shoulder the highest infertility consequences. The objective of this review was therefore to explore socially acceptable and culturally effective reproductive health strategies for the social management of infertility in sub-Sahara Africa. Different databases were searched to source articles on infertility in Sub-Saharan Africa. The databases included Medline, Pubmed and Fudan University library. Google scholar was also utilized to get additional relevant articles. Titles and abstracts of the articles searched were critically evaluated for relevance based on the inclusion criteria. Final extraction of the articles was done by getting only those studies that met the inclusion criteria. Twenty articles were identified and five were included in this review. The findings reveal three main themes: perception, health seeking behavior and the social impact of infertility. In many Sub-Saharan Africa societies, there is negative perception of infertility problem as such those affected do not seek medical attention early. There is also a disproportionate social impact of infertility on women in the region. In Sub-Saharan Africa, high value is placed on children and those who are infertile are greatly stigmatized. In such a setting, the concept of reproductive health should include policies which could make it possible for couples and the whole society aware of the reality of infertility as a reproductive health problem and seek medical attention early.

Highlights

Infertility or childlessness is a global reproductive health issue for female as well as male sexes yet often not discussed in public and most of the times neglected especially in an African setting
In Sub-Saharan Africa region, infertility problem prevalence varies from 9% in Gambia [2], 21.2% in northwestern Ethiopia [1] [3], between 20% and 30% in Nigeria [4] [5] and 11.8% among women and 15.8% among men in Ghana [6], men are mostly excluded in infertility discourse [7]
World Health Organization (WHO) demographic studies show that in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 30% of women aged 25 - 49 years suffer from secondary infertility, the inability to achieve a subsequent pregnancy

Summary

Introduction

Infertility or childlessness is a global reproductive health issue for female as well as male sexes yet often not discussed in public and most of the times neglected especially in an African setting. It is generally believed that more than 70 million couples suffer from infertility problem worldwide and this constitutes 15% of reproductive aged couples globally [1]. Infertility has been defined as failure to achieve pregnancy after one year of exposure to pregnancy risk or after one year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse in the absence of known reproductive pathology [8]. This inability to reproduce has negative implications on women especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where high fertility is preferred [9]

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