Of blood and babies: The relationship of popular Islamic physiology to fertility

Popular beliefs about female physiology held by most women in provincial Iran have far-reaching consequences for women's behavior and attitudes as they relate to fertility and contraception. These beliefs are grounded in the classical Galenic-Islamic medical theories concerning natural temperament, the reproductive system, blood and the heart. These theories provide models for understanding conception, pregnancy, contraception and the effects of the contraceptive pill upon women's bodies. Popular medicine also provides a vocabulary of disorders of womanhood—heart distress, weak nerves, lack of blood, and aches and pains. These disorders are commonly believed to be side effects that result from use of the contraceptive pill, and are reasons frequently given for discontinuing contraception or never entering a family planning program. The “health-related” complications encountered in sustained usage of contraceptive methods such as the birth control pill, the high degree of dissatisfaction with new contraceptive methods and with the clinicians who encourage their use, and the ambivalent feelings experienced by women who practice or consider practicing birth control are more clearly understood in light of these popular beliefs concerning female physiology.