Evil spirits and miscarriage
miscarriages, miscarriage
MISCARRIAGES, MISCARRIAGE
The more prevalent discourse related to the concealment of pregnancy was linked to local cultural beliefs around the causes of miscarriage. Many of the women interviewed held the view that making one’s pregnancy known to others at an early stage places one at greater risk of miscarriage as pregnancy makes one vulnerable to attacks by evil spirits. The term ‘Fear of early disclosure of pregnancy leading to miscarriage resulted in some women keeping their pregnancies secret and not attending ANC.R: Divergent from the general, unspecified way in which pregnancy out of marriage was spoken about, these spiritually induced miscarriages were known to have happened to specific individuals:R: Indeed, one FGD participant, in response to a general comment from another participant, reported suffering from miscarriages attributable to these spirits and early disclosure of pregnancy:R1: R2However, some women were aware of the belief that spirits were the cause of miscarriages but did not ascribe to it, although they were aware that it influenced the actions and choices of other women. In the following exchange, the second respondent notes how a miscarriage may occur because a woman has not attended early ANC, but then perceived as being caused by spirits.R1: R2